‘This family rejection harmed my health as well’: Intersections between the meanings of family and health for trans people and family members in a trans healthcare service in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Transgender people deal with intense discrimination in every aspect of life. These experiences increase when they face family rejection. The research on social and family environment surrounding gender transition has been largely overlooked. We examine the meanings of family and health, and how these intersect, among trans people and their family members in a health service in Brazil. We conducted a qualitative study (between December 2017 and July 2018), an ethnography with the triangulation of three sources: interviews with 8 transgender men, 8 transgender women and 5 family members; a focus group with another 8 transgender men and approximately 100 h of field observation. Our study shows that family and health are interpreted as ideal protective environments, and seen as causes of disappointment, abandonment and illness. The meanings of family and health are interconnected and constituted in relation to each other. We also found that there are differences within these meanings of family and health when we consider the ethnicity and the economic status of the participants. The participants reported that the society education towards transsexuality is fundamental to improving trans people’s quality of life. Our results challenge health services to provide comprehensive healthcare and assure health equity for transgender people.

KEYWORDS:

• Transgender
• family
• healthcare
• qualitative study
• ethnography

Acknowledgments

We thank the professionals of the health service, as well as the trans people and family members who generously participated in and contributed to this study. We thank Professor Gustavo Antonio Raimondi for his insightful comments. We thank the ‘Colegio Doctoral Tordesillas de Salud Pública e Historia de la Ciencia’ for supporting the first author over the time spent studying at the ‘Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche’ in Spain, in the course of his doctoral studies. The first author received a scholarship from the ‘Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior’ (CAPES) from Brazil, in the ‘Programa de Doutorado Sanduíche no Exterior’, process number 88881.187710/2018-01.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

We thank the ‘Colegio Doctoral Tordesillas de Salud Pública e Historia de la Ciencia’ for supporting the first author over the time spent studying at the ‘Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche’ in Spain, in the course of his doctoral studies. The first author received a scholarship from the ‘Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior’ (CAPES) from Brazil, in the ‘Programa de Doutorado Sanduíche no Exterior’, process number 88881.187710/2018-01.