‘Spunkles’, Donors, and Fathers: Men, Trans/Masculine and Non-Binary People’s Accounts of Sperm Donors and their Relationships to Children

Across the world, growing numbers of men, trans/masculine and non-binary people are bearing children, some of whom utilise known donor sperm in order to conceive. How this diverse population understand the role of known donors, both in the lead up to conception and in terms of the lives of children conceived of their donations has, to date, received little attention. This chapter focuses on a subsample of nine individuals drawn from a larger international study of 51 men, trans/masculine or non-binary who were gestational parents. The nine participants whose narratives are examined in this chapter all used known donor sperm to conceive, and in their interviews discussed their thoughts about the role of donors in their children’s lives, exploring topics such identifying potential donors, the incorporation (or not) of donors into existing kinship narratives, and the need to create opportunities for children to negotiate their own relationships with donors in the future. The findings highlight the potentially unique social scripting needs of men, trans/masculine and non-binary people who conceive using donor sperm. The chapter concludes by providing suggestions for how this diverse group of people may be assisted in developing scripts for disclosing donor conception to their children, and for negotiating the role of donors in children’s lives in the context of legislatures where such disclosure is required

Men, Trans/Masculine and Non-Binary People’s Views About Pregnancy

Drawing on focus groups conducted with 18 young men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people across three countries, in this chapter we argue that essentialist beliefs about reproduction very much impact the experiences of this diverse group of young people. In the sections that follow we first provide an overview of the limited body of literature in this area. We then briefly describe the background to our project, before presenting the findings of our thematic analysis of the focus group data. We conclude the chapter by exploring what our findings mean for a trans reproductive justice approach

Trans Parenting

This chapter explores some of the broad contours of trans parenting, covering areas such as barriers to parenting for trans people, decision making about parenting, conception, pregnancy and birth, and parent-child relationships. Each section uses Ansara and colleague’s (Ansara, 2015; Ansara and Hegarty, 2014; Riggs, Ansara, and Treharne, 2015) cisgenderism framework to highlight key challenges faced by trans parents, although attention is also paid to the agency enacted by, and the positive parenting experiences of, trans people. Additional theoretical concepts are introduced throughout to provide additional depth to the exploration of the topic of trans parenting

Men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people negotiating conception: Normative resistance and inventive pragmatism

Background: Growing numbers of men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people are undertaking pregnancies, yet relatively little is known about the experiences of this diverse population in regard to conception. Aims: This study sought to examine men’s, trans/masculine, and non-binary people’s experiences of pregnancy, including conception. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 51 men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people who were gestational parents living in Australia, Canada, the European Union (including the United Kingdom), and the United States. Thematic analysis was undertaken, focusing on accounts of conception. Pfeffer’s (2012) conceptual frameworks of normative resistance and inventive pragmatism were used as an analytic tool. Results: Themes developed focused on: 1) choosing a clinic donor, 2) kinship with donors, 3) conceiving via intercourse with a partner, 4) negotiating receipt of donor sperm, 5) challenges associated with known donors, 6) challenges associated with fertility clinics, and 7) experiences of conception. Discussion: The forms of normative resistance and inventive pragmatism identified suggest that men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people who are gestational parents seek to normalize their experiences of conception, while also acknowledging the specific challenges they face

Changes in Energy Expenditure with Ingestion of High Protein, High Fat versus High Protein, Low Fat Meals among Underweight, Normal Weight, and Overweight Females.

Background: Metabolic rate is known to rise above basal levels after eating, especially following protein consumption. Yet, this postprandial rise in metabolism appears to vary among individuals. This study examined changes in energy expenditure in response to ingestion of a high protein, high fat (HPHF) meal versus an isocaloric high protein, low fat (HPLF) meal in underweight, normal weight, or overweight females (n = 21) aged 19–28 years. Methods: Energy expenditure, measured using indirect calorimetry, was assessed before and every 30 minutes for 3.5 hours following consumption of the meals on two separate occasions. Height and weight were measured using standard techniques. Body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Results: Significant positive correlations were found between body mass index (BMI) and baseline metabolic rate (MR) (r = 0.539; p = 0.017), between body weight and baseline MR (r = 0.567; p = 0.011), between BMI and average total change in MR (r = 0.591; p = 0.008), and between body weight and average total change in MR (r = 0.464; p = 0.045). Metabolic rate (kcal/min) was significantly higher in the overweight group than the normal weight group, which was significantly higher than the underweight group across all times and treatments. However, when metabolic rate was expressed per kg fat free mass (ffm), no significant difference was found in postprandial energy expenditure between the overweight and normal groups. Changes in MR (kcal/min and kcal/min/kg ffm) from the baseline rate did not significantly differ in the underweight (n = 3) or in the overweight subjects (n = 5) following consumption of either meal at any time. Changes in MR (kcal/min and kcal/min/kg ffm) from baseline were significantly higher in normal weight subjects (n = 11) across all times following consumption of the HPHF meal versus the HPLF meal. Conclusion: There is no diet-induced thermogenic advantage between the HPHF and HPLF meals in overweight and underweight subjects. In contrast, in normal weight subjects, ingestion of a HPHF meal significantly increases MR (69.3 kcal/3.5 hr) versus consumption of a HPLF meal and provides a short-term metabolic advantage

Medical uncertainty and reproduction of the “normal”: Decision-making around testosterone therapy in transgender pregnancy

In this work, we draw upon in-depth interview and focus group data from a three-year international study of 70 trans people (residing across Australia, Canada, the European Union, United Kingdom, and the United States) about their intentions and experiences around pregnancy, as well as 22 health care providers (practicing across Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States) with self-identified experience working with trans patients and pregnancy along a diverse cross-section of specialty areas (e.g., psychotherapists, general practitioners, endocrinologists, midwives, lactation consultants, OBGYNs, fertility specialists). The central motivating questions guiding the present work are: 1) For trans people who are taking testosterone, what is the medical advice and guidance around stopping or pausing testosterone therapy to become pregnant, throughout pregnancy, and during the postpartum period (particularly in the context of chestfeeding/breastfeeding); 2) What is the evidence base in the medical empirical literature for this guidance; and 3) How do trans people respond to this guidance

The Overlooked Potential of Generalized Linear Models in Astronomy - I: Binomial Regression

Revealing hidden patterns in astronomical data is often the path to fundamental scientific breakthroughs; meanwhile the complexity of scientific inquiry increases as more subtle relationships are sought. Contemporary data analysis problems often elude the capabilities of classical statistical techniques, suggesting the use of cutting edge statistical methods. In this light, astronomers have overlooked a whole family of statistical techniques for exploratory data analysis and robust regression, the so-called Generalized Linear Models (GLMs). In this paper -- the first in a series aimed at illustrating the power of these methods in astronomical applications -- we elucidate the potential of a particular class of GLMs for handling binary/binomial data, the so-called logit and probit regression techniques, from both a maximum likelihood and a Bayesian perspective. As a case in point, we present the use of these GLMs to explore the conditions of star formation activity and metal enrichment in primordial minihaloes from cosmological hydro-simulations including detailed chemistry, gas physics, and stellar feedback. We predict that for a dark mini-halo with metallicity $\approx 1.3 \times 10^{-4} Z_{\bigodot}$, an increase of $1.2 \times 10^{-2}$ in the gas molecular fraction, increases the probability of star formation occurrence by a factor of 75%. Finally, we highlight the use of receiver operating characteristic curves as a diagnostic for binary classifiers, and ultimately we use these to demonstrate the competitive predictive performance of GLMs against the popular technique of artificial neural networks.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Computin

The Overlooked Potential of Generalized Linear Models in Astronomy-III: Bayesian Negative Binomial Regression and Globular Cluster Populations

In this paper, the third in a series illustrating the power of generalized linear models (GLMs) for the astronomical community, we elucidate the potential of the class of GLMs which handles count data. The size of a galaxy's globular cluster population $N_{\rm GC}$ is a prolonged puzzle in the astronomical literature. It falls in the category of count data analysis, yet it is usually modelled as if it were a continuous response variable. We have developed a Bayesian negative binomial regression model to study the connection between $N_{\rm GC}$ and the following galaxy properties: central black hole mass, dynamical bulge mass, bulge velocity dispersion, and absolute visual magnitude. The methodology introduced herein naturally accounts for heteroscedasticity, intrinsic scatter, errors in measurements in both axes (either discrete or continuous), and allows modelling the population of globular clusters on their natural scale as a non-negative integer variable. Prediction intervals of 99% around the trend for expected $N_{\rm GC}$comfortably envelope the data, notably including the Milky Way, which has hitherto been considered a problematic outlier. Finally, we demonstrate how random intercept models can incorporate information of each particular galaxy morphological type. Bayesian variable selection methodology allows for automatically identifying galaxy types with different productions of GCs, suggesting that on average S0 galaxies have a GC population 35% smaller than other types with similar brightness.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA