The Risks We Take: IVF, Gender-Affirming Care, and the Fight for Bodily Autonomy
Last night, as I watched the vice-presidential debate, I packed my tacklebox full of syringes, patches, and needles—supplies for my upcoming IVF cycle. As I carefully organized the tools that would help me bring a child into this world, I couldn’t help but reflect on the irony. In a few weeks, voters will decide not only the future of reproductive healthcare but also the future of gender-affirming care for countless individuals. Many of us could lose the very autonomy over our bodies that makes this journey possible.
As a Gender Specialist, I spend my days working with families, helping them navigate the complexities of gender identity, transition, and self-discovery. Yet, as I prepare for my own medical journey, I am reminded of the parallels between the risks parents take in fertility treatments and the risks they later fear for their transgender children undergoing hormone therapy. Both are intimate, deeply personal medical decisions. Both require trust in healthcare, and both are under threat.
The Parallels Between IVF and Gender-Affirming Care
IVF is not for the faint of heart. It demands numerous invasive appointments, daily injections, hormone patches, and a rollercoaster of uncertainty, all while navigating the physical and emotional toll of the process. Parents embark on this journey because the goal of bringing a child into the world is worth the physical and emotional toll. And yet, once that child is born, many parents hesitate when it comes to allowing their transgender child to pursue gender-affirming care. They fear the risks, the unknowns, and the impact on their child’s future.
But here’s the thing:
we take risks for love all the time.
I’m taking risks by injecting myself with hormones to make this child possible. It’s not experimental—it’s well-researched and medically supported. The same can be said for gender-affirming hormone therapy. While IVF is a widely accepted and common medical procedure, often pursued without question, gender-affirming hormone therapy faces unnecessary barriers. Both are medically supported and necessary for many, yet IVF is rarely scrutinized, even though it involves significant risks. Gender-affirming care, on the other hand, is frequently gatekept despite comparable or even lower risks.
As I organize my patches and syringes, I think about how many parents fear hormone treatments for their children, while I’m willingly undergoing similar treatments in the name of parenthood.
Trusting Medicine for Parenthood and Identity
Neither process is easy, but both are necessary for those of us who seek to fulfill a personal, life-affirming goal. The risks, while present, are calculated and managed by healthcare professionals. The same trust in medicine that leads parents to pursue IVF should extend to the care their children need when they embark on their own medical journeys.
As I watched the debate last night, the weight of these decisions became even more apparent. The outcome of this election could determine whether people like me can continue to access IVF, or whether transgender children and adults can access gender-affirming care. The fight for bodily autonomy is not just about one issue—it’s about ensuring that all individuals have the right to make informed medical decisions about their bodies, free from political interference.
Protecting Bodily Autonomy for All
What’s at stake is not just my ability to have a child, but also the right for my child, and for all children, to grow up in a world where they can make their own decisions about their bodies and identities.
The same autonomy that allows me to pursue IVF should allow a transgender child to access hormone therapy. And yet, both are under threat.
As I embark on this journey, packing my tacklebox full of supplies, I am reminded of the risks we take for the ones we love. IVF and gender-affirming care are not experimental—they are proven, life-changing medical processes. But they, like so many aspects of healthcare, are at risk of being stripped away from those who need them most.
In the coming months, we have a responsibility to protect the bodily autonomy of all individuals, whether they are parents seeking fertility treatments or transgender youth seeking to live as their true selves. These decisions belong in the hands of families and healthcare providers, not politicians. And I, for one, will continue to fight for a world where every person has the right to make choices about their own body—whether that’s in the pursuit of parenthood or the pursuit of authenticity. As I begin this IVF journey, I hold this truth close: the risks we take out of love are always worth it, especially when they allow us, and those we care for, to become who we are meant to be.
Protecting healthcare rights and bodily autonomy starts with voting, and your vote can make all the difference.
Take a moment to check your voter registration status or register to vote here: Vote.org.
Together, we can protect the future of healthcare for all.
