Reimagining kinship: explorations of QTPOC family and reproductive health
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Abstract
The model of the biological nuclear family is deeply embedded in the American cultural imaginary. The privileging of this model – through healthcare systems, legal systems, and the media – contributes to the erasure of diverse family forms that exist among marginalized communities. In this study, I focus specifically on the experiences of family among queer and trans people of color (QTPOC), who have been actively excluded from normative reproductive processes at the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality. I ask the following questions: 1. How do QTPOC think about family and make decisions about whether or not to have children? How do QTPOC describe their experiences with reproductive health services, specifically those pertaining to fertility and family planning? What barriers do QTPOC describe facing in their family formation processes?
Through an analysis of 11 semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and media analysis, I find that QTPOC contest raced and classed expectations for family, imagining a form of kinship that blends biological, extended, and chosen families. However, they also face pressure to adhere to normative models of family and encounter micro- and macro-level barriers to actualizing their ideal family forms. I therefore call for reproductive healthcare systems, as well as legal systems, to reconceptualize family and support QTPOC kinship outside the bounds of cisheteronormative nuclear family.