Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how gamete preservation prior to gender affirmation treatment is enacted as a 'mundane' care practice. It argues that it enables concerned experts and trans* individuals to advance reproductive rights by circumventing moralistic and general opposition.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines how "the mundane" can become a fruitful framework for healthcare professionals, legal experts, or LGBTQ+ associations involved in advancing trans* reproductive rights. I will explore this question based on collective research conducted with Delphine Gardey and Raphaël Albospeyre on gamete preservation prior to gender affirmation treatment which can affect fertility. Drawing from 49 interviews with caregivers, legal experts, LGBTQ+ organizations, and 12 trans* individuals, I will revisit how they practically envision gamete preservation and assisted reproductive technologies. I will focus particularly on how some actors seek to conceptualize care for trans* individuals as "nonspecific," ordinary, and thus self-evident. By linking assisted reproductive practices for trans people to the mundane, they aim to move away from general moralistic positions toward an everyday ethics, situationally attached to the diversity of individual circumstances and aimed at promoting reproductive rights "from below." I will reflect on how the mundane, rather than “big stories” about minority rights, aligns with the concerns of these actors. As feminist STS scholars, how can we make room in research narratives for the craft of actors who find ways to navigate through oppositions on trans* reproductive rights by making them practical realities within healthcare institutions? What debates does this raise for both researchers and concerned actors?