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Chapter 14 - Weathering the Storm: Fertility and the Black Lesbian Experience

from Part V - Special Topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2023

By
Tenika L. Jackson
Edited by
Yamonte Cooper  and
Erica Holmes
Yamonte Cooper
Affiliation:
El Camino College, Torrance, California
Erica Holmes
Affiliation:
Antioch University, Los Angeles
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Summary

The fertility journey for Black lesbian couples can be both challenging and rewarding. Clinicians must be able to assist their clients therapeutically while they are going through the procedures as well as managing the biological, psychological, social, and emotional aspects of the process. This chapter seeks to help therapists acquire an understanding of the process of conceiving a child within a Black lesbian relationship. It will help clinicians understand how women reconcile being labeled infertile or having issues of infertility when there may be nothing physically wrong. It will explain how gender expression could impact the decision of who should carry the child in Black lesbian relationships. The chapter discusses the process of intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and adoption within the lesbian community and specifically the Black lesbian community. Clinicians will learn how the journey to conceive a child impacts the Black lesbian relationship and what helping professionals need to do in order to effectively help their clients weather the storm.

Keywords

(IVF)infertilityBlack lesbian couplesqueer
Type
Chapter
Information
Black Couples Therapy
Clinical Theory and Practice
 , pp. 319 - 328
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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