The King Was Pregnant: Reproductive Ethics and Transgender Pregnancy
Jill Drouillard
Abstract
Using Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness as an inspirational backdrop, a novel whose story unfolds on a genderless planet that nevertheless relies on reproductive sex for the sake of generativity, this paper tackles the sex/gender debate, its entanglements with procreation, and its consequences for transgender pregnancies. More specifically, I analyze three issues that pose barriers to thinking about a more inclusive reproductive ethics: state-sanctioned sterilization, nonreproductive futurism, and access to assisted reproductive technology.
Topics & Concepts
GenerativityTransgenderReproductive rightsGender studiesReproductive technologyTransgender womenHuman sexualitySociologyPregnancyPsychologyReproductive healthMedicineSocial psychologyHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)BiologyDemographyFamily medicinePopulationLactationSyphilisGeneticsMen who have sex with menReproductive Health and TechnologiesHistorical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal ChangesFeminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies