"All Reproduction is Speculative Fiction: Miracle, Contagion, and Alien in three histories of Trans Reproduction”

Carlo Sariego, Yale University

Sociology of reproduction and transgender studies have yet to fully utilize their critical tools together to map out the relationship between norms in reproduction and norms organized around presumed “cisness”. Primarily framed in legal, legislative, and popular arenas using the language of “need”, trans reproduction is stuck. Access to good care is essential to the survival, progress, and wellbeing of trans people. At the same time, “need” need not be the only framework for thinking trans reproduction. Now that transsexuality has long established that changing one’s sex is possible, reproductive theory must adapt to the flexible reality of our bodies. This article proposes that one of the ways to unstick trans reproduction is through the method of historical repro-speculation. Taking three examples of reproductive speculation in history and fiction, I argue that all reproduction can be understood as a form of speculative fiction and trans reproduction is well suited to re-thinking the reproductive present. This presentation proposes what I understand as a necessary seismic shift in the understanding, research, and interest in transgender reproduction. Instead of considering such a phenomenon a “problem” of identity that crops up in an arena of care rife with medical authority (although, this is surely the case), I seek to push our analysis of transgender reproduction beyond a question of “care” towards one of possibility, even desire. I proceed with three cases. First, the historical case of Dawn Hall demonstrates how miracle is an effective tool for achieving reproductive desires through a speculative present. Second, through a reading of Torrey Peters’ “Infect All Your Loved Ones”, I argue contagion is an expression of trans reproductive rage. Finally, discussing Octavia Butler’s short story “Blood Child” demonstrates how total alienation of the flesh mirrors the past, references the present, and scrambles the future of repro-possibility.

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 Presented in Session 186. Politics of Gender and Reproduction: Dimensions of Speculative Fiction and Population Planning