passing this along:
There are few resources addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) experiences with the loss of a child during pregnancy, birth, surrogacy, or adoption. And, as many of us have found, existing resources for grieving parents almost always assume a heterosexual (often also white and Christian) family.
I am currently conducting research on this topic, both as an anthropologist concerned with LGBTQ health, as well as a queer parent who experienced loss and found few resources that addressed my family or my experience.
I am writing to invite you to participate (and/or to forward this information on to other LGBTQ people who may be interested). In particular, this study focuses on LGBTQ people's experiences of miscarriage, stillbirth, loss during surrogacy, failed adoptions, or neonatal loss-and their use of related support services.
Ultimately, my aim is to use this research to suggest ways to better meet the needs of LGBTQ people who have experienced loss. Stories collected in this study and summarized data will be used in publications aimed at LGBTQ parents, health providers and other researchers (I will alter all names and identifying information to protect your privacy and you may choose to be referred to as "anonymous").
If you would like to participate-through an in-person interview, a skype or phone interview, or by responding to questions posed by email-please contact Christa Craven at ccraven@wooster.edu. This research has the approval of the Human Subjects Review Board at the College of Wooster, where I teach in Anthropology and Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies. I am also the author of Pushing for Midwives: Homebirth Mothers and the Reproductive Rights Movement (Temple University Press, 2010) and former co-chair of the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists.
There are few resources addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) experiences with the loss of a child during pregnancy, birth, surrogacy, or adoption. And, as many of us have found, existing resources for grieving parents almost always assume a heterosexual (often also white and Christian) family.
I am currently conducting research on this topic, both as an anthropologist concerned with LGBTQ health, as well as a queer parent who experienced loss and found few resources that addressed my family or my experience.
I am writing to invite you to participate (and/or to forward this information on to other LGBTQ people who may be interested). In particular, this study focuses on LGBTQ people's experiences of miscarriage, stillbirth, loss during surrogacy, failed adoptions, or neonatal loss-and their use of related support services.
Ultimately, my aim is to use this research to suggest ways to better meet the needs of LGBTQ people who have experienced loss. Stories collected in this study and summarized data will be used in publications aimed at LGBTQ parents, health providers and other researchers (I will alter all names and identifying information to protect your privacy and you may choose to be referred to as "anonymous").
If you would like to participate-through an in-person interview, a skype or phone interview, or by responding to questions posed by email-please contact Christa Craven at ccraven@wooster.edu. This research has the approval of the Human Subjects Review Board at the College of Wooster, where I teach in Anthropology and Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies. I am also the author of Pushing for Midwives: Homebirth Mothers and the Reproductive Rights Movement (Temple University Press, 2010) and former co-chair of the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists.