Sociology Faculty Candidate Talk
In anti-trans policymaking, being transgender and reproducing are often presented as incompatible. Despite evidence of thriving and diverse trans family-making, "transgender" and "reproduction" are framed as incongruous. Reproduction, however, is predominantly theorized from a racialized "cisgender" standpoint in state legislation and policy. This is evident in laws governing the fertility of transgender youth, where the potential loss of a cisgender reproductive future is used to justify restrictions on life-saving gender-affirming care. Drawing on theories of queer time, I use the reproductive narratives of trans adults to challenge state narratives about fertility for trans youth, offering alternatives to cisgender futures. The term "reproductive speculation" is introduced to describe the practice of imagining reproductive futures in both contexts. Reproduction, in this view, is a form of transition, and transition is a form of reproduction.
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