Transmasculine Pregnancy and the Limits of Reproductive Citizenship: Cisnormativity and Governance in Healthcare Systems in Brazil
Abstract
ABSTRACT This article examines transmasculine pregnancy as a critical lens through which to analyze the intersections of cisnormativity, reproductive governance, and reproductive citizenship within healthcare systems. While existing research has documented barriers faced by transgender populations, less attention has been paid to how institutional and policy frameworks regulate trans reproductive experiences. Drawing on qualitative data from in‐depth interviews with trans men and transmasculine individuals in Brazil, this study explores how access to reproductive care is structured across clinical, administrative, and legal domains. The findings demonstrate that barriers extend beyond interpersonal discrimination and are embedded in the institutional, technological, and bureaucratic organization of reproductive health services. Participants reported recurrent forms of misrecognition, including misgendering, exclusion from health information systems, and challenges in civil registration processes. These dynamics reveal how cisnormativity operates as a governing logic that shapes the recognition of reproductive subjects and conditions access to rights. The article argues that reproductive citizenship is differentially constituted, with transmasculine individuals occupying a marginal and conditionally recognized position. By highlighting the gap between formal policy inclusion and lived experience, the study underscores the need for structural transformations in health systems and contributes to broader debates on gender, reproduction, and public policy.
Fields of Study & Subjects
LGBTQ Health
Identity
and Policy
Reproductive Health and Technologies
Reproductive Health and Contraception
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Sexuality Gender & Policy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Publication date
- 1 August 2026
- Language
- EN