Note: One of the downfalls of this project has been a notable lack of diversity! If you are a BIPOC transmasculine individual who has given birth or know of any who may be interested in participating in an interview, please feel free to reach out or share my contact information. I can be reached at vcjones@ucsc.edu.
Interviews
The following interviews are listed in chronological order by the date in which they were conducted.
| Trystan |
| Stephan |
| Gabe |
| Foster |
About the Project
“Oral Histories of Transgender People Who Have Given Birth” is a research study that was certified by the University of California, Santa Cruz Institutional Review Board (IRB). Its Principal Investigators are Vann Jones, creator of the project, and Dr. Marcia Ochoa, associate professor of the department of Performance, Play & Design and provost of Oakes College. The interviews were conducted between October 28th- November 9th, 2022.
Advertisements for this oral history project were posted on Birthing and Breast or Chestfeeding Trans People and Allies, an online support group hosted on Facebook, as well as on the social media accounts of Our Family Coalition. Those interested in participating in the project were asked to reach out to Vann via email in order to schedule the interviews, all of which were held and recorded over Zoom. Vann was responsible for conducting and transcribing said interviews under the advisement and guidance of Dr. Ochoa.
Advertisement used to gather participants for “Oral Histories of Transgender People Who Have Given Birth”
Image description: The title reads “Are you transmasculine? Have you given birth? We want to hear from you!” There are images of sticky notes that read “Participate in a trans man’s oral history project on transmasculine reproduction,” “Interviews will be posted on an educational website hosted by the University of California, Santa Cruz,” and “Interviews will last roughly 60-90 minutes over Zoom.” There is an image of a baby in utero in the bottom right corner. There is a bottom line of text that reads, “Contact vcjones@ucsc.edu for more information.”
The guiding questions asked in each of the interviews are as follows:
1) Please introduce yourself!
-
-
- What is your name, and how would you describe yourself and the various identities you may hold?
- How many children do you have?
-
2) Did you ever experience difficulties with insurance or coverage in seeking care related to your pregnancy?
3) How did you decide to deliver your child/ren? What factors and experiences influenced your decision on how you decided to go about delivery?
4) Were you able to be marked as your child/ren’s father on their birth certificate? Did you ever have issues with custody of your child/ren?
5) If you could change one thing about the medical system in order to help trans masculine individuals be more included in reproductive health care, what would it be?
6) How did the people in your life react when you told them you were pregnant?
-
-
- Did you tell everyone in your life?
- How did you navigate choosing who to tell?
- How did you navigate coming out to people in your children’s lives (ie. at school, etc.)
-
7) Can you describe your experience postpartum?
8) How do you navigate gender and gender roles in your family? How do you explain gender or teach about gender to your child/ren, or intend to do so in the future?
9) How did you navigate chestfeeding? Did you consider attempting to chestfeed, or did you opt for formula or pursue other options?
10) How did you feel about pregnancy and parenthood before transitioning vs while on HRT?
-
-
- How did you imagine the experience of pregnancy before vs during?
- What made you decide to become a parent?
-
11) What is the best thing about being a parent?