Obstacles to transsexuals becoming parents : a preliminary investigation

Transsexuals can become parents through a variety of biological and social means both pre and post-transition. This exploratory study looked at the obstacles transsexuals may face in trying to access parenting through donor insemination, surrogacy and/or adoption post-transition. Qualitative interviews were conducted with two professionals who work with transsexuals trying to access parenting and one transsexual parent/activist. Key informants highlighted a number of obstacles faced by transsexuals trying to access parenting including discrimination from social services, fear of the medical system, lack of information and knowledge biology, cost, lack of support and sense of entitlement. In addition key informants also highlighted the reasons why transsexuals want to become parents, the impact these obstacles can have on children of transsexuals and the changes that need to be made to eliminate these obstacles both at social and governmental levels. It should be noted that because of the small sample size, use of non-probability sampling and uniqueness of each case that the results of this research cannot be generalized to all transsexuals seeking to access parenthood.