Abstract
Objective
To describe general characteristics of transgender parents, highlight aspects of their relationship with their children, and explore experiences with discrimination, compared with transgender nonparents.
Background
Few studies have investigated families headed by transgender individuals, and even fewer in contexts where there are no specific policies for family planning in this group, as is the case in Brazil.
Methods
A hospital and web-based cross-sectional survey recruited transgender individuals from two Brazilian states during July–October 2014 and January–March 2015. The survey was designed based on a cross-cultural adaptation of the TransPULSE project.
Results
From 670 participants, 44 reported being parents, were older, had more years of education, and were more likely to be in a relationship than the transgender nonparents. Controlling for age, transgender parents reported suffering more discrimination than those who have no children. Among them, most became parents through biological means, 17.06% reported having lost or having the custody reduced for being transgender, and 48.07% suspected or were told that their ability to see their children less was due to their gender identity.
Conclusion
The key effect of discrimination that transgender parents faced was not having access or having reduced access to their children.