The Lead up to Loss: How Context Shapes LGBTQ+ Experiences of Pregnancy Loss

Abstract

While research into LGBTQ+ family formation is increasing, little is known about people with diverse genders and sexualities’ pregnancy loss experiences. We aimed to explore how the context in the lead up to loss was important for LGBTQ+ people when pregnancy loss occurred. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Within the superordinate theme—The context of societal attitudes to LGBTQ+ people and their efforts to conceive are essential to understanding LGBTQ+ peoples’ grief and support experiences after pregnancy loss—three themes were generated. The first theme—The complexity of non-normative decision-making—describes the complex decisions that couples needed to navigate in seeking to create their families, while the second theme—Outgroup distress and marginalization—expresses the frequent minority stressors and heteronormative assumptions about kinship to which participants were exposed. The third theme—Resource depletion– illustrates how the significant investment in family creation eroded physical, emotional, social, and financial resources. Findings, implications and areas for further research are discussed. Visible indicators of inclusivity and inclusive language in healthcare settings are practical actions that can assist LGBTQ+ people when forming and growing their families.

Keywords:

• Pregnancy loss
• GLBTQ
• qualitative research
• perinatal care
• surrogacy

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict to declare.

Data availability statement

Data available on request due to privacy/ethical restrictions.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.