STUDY QUESTION What
are the experiences of trans persons (i.e. those whose gender identity does not
match the gender assigned to them at birth) who sought or accessed assisted
reproduction (AR) services in Ontario, Canada, between 2007 and 2010? SUMMARY
ANSWER The majority of trans persons report negative experiences with AR
service providers. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Apart from research examining desire
to have children among trans people, most of the literature on this topic has
debated the ethics of assisting trans persons to become parents. To-date, all
of the published research concerning trans persons’ experiences with AR
services is solely from the perspective of service providers; no studies have
examined the experiences of trans people themselves. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE,
DURATION Secondary qualitative research study of data from nine
trans-identified people and their partners (total n = 11) collected as part of
a community-based study of access to AR services for sexual and gender minority
people between 2010 and 2012. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
Trans-identified volunteers (and their partners, when applicable) who had used
or attempted to access AR services since 2007 from across Ontario, Canada,
participated in a 60-90 minute, semi-structured qualitative interview.
Qualitative analysis was performed using a descriptive phenomenological
approach. Emerging themes were continually checked against the data as part of
an iterative process. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE The data highlight
barriers to accessing AR services for trans people. Participant recommendations
for improving AR service provision to better meet the needs of this population
are presented. These recommendations address the following areas: (i) AR
service provider education and training; (ii) service provider and clinic
practices and (iii) clinic environment. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The
majority of study participants were trans people who identified as men and who
resided in major urban areas; those living in smaller communities may have
different experiences that were not adequately captured in this analysis. WIDER
IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS While existing literature debates the ethics of
assisting trans people to become parents through the use of AR, our study
demonstrates that they are already accessing or attempting to access these
services. This reality necessitates a shift toward exploring the ways in which
AR services can be improved to better meet the needs of this population, from
the perspectives of both service users and service providers. STUDY
FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS This project was supported by the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Gender and Health, in partnership
with the Assisted Human Reproduction Canada: Catalyst Grant: Psychosocial
Issues Associated with Assisted Human Reproduction (FRN-103595). S.M. was
supported by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Science and
Humanities Research Council, as well as research funding from Osgoode Hall Law
School, York University. S.J.-A. was supported by an Ontario Graduate
Scholarship funded by the Province of Ontario and the University of Toronto.