Christa Craven’s book selected as an essential resource on reproductive rights

Reproductive Losses: Challenges to LGBTQ Families, a book by Christa Craven, professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and anthropology at The College of Wooster, was recently included in an article on Women.com called “30 books that put the long and complicated history of reproductive rights into sharp focus” by Emily Hutchinson.

“Initially, I wrote this book to be a resource for LGBTQ+ parents and families who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, infertility, and/or sterility, and those who support them—family & friends, medical and adoption professionals, therapists and counsellors,” Craven said. “But I also knew that the stories in the book could enrich discussions of reproductive healthcare, reproductive rights, and reproductive justice much more broadly. Creating more inclusive reproductive healthcare options requires a commitment to centering the needs of communities that have historically (and sometimes presently) been denied care or had restricted options.”

Reproductive Losses was published in 2019, but Craven said that the topics discussed are still relevant. After Roe v. Wade was repealed last year, many states have been rolling back reproductive rights. “With more LGBTQ+ people forming families but at the same time tremendously restrictive laws being passed across the country to limit their healthcare options, the concerns raised in the book are as important today as they were when it was published in 2019,” Craven said.

Craven noted the importance of articles like this one on Women.com for sustaining conversations about reproductive rights. “With today’s polarizing political rhetoric about reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ lives, and continued evidence of the inequitable ways that reproductive healthcare is available and accessible for Black and Brown people, LGBTQ+ people, and along ‘red state’/‘blue state’ divides, it is more important than ever to be having critical conversations about what reproductive rights and reproductive justice will look like in the future,” she said.

The list includes a wide variety of books that provide a comprehensive overview of the history of reproductive rights. “It’s quite an honor to have my work alongside some of the most prominent writers on reproductive rights and reproductive justice, like journalist Katha Pollitt, reproductive justice organizer Loretta Ross, legal scholar Dorothy Roberts, historian Rickie Solinger, sociologist Barbara Gurr, and many others whose work I’ve long admired!” Craven said. Reproductive Losses was also recognized in 2021, when it won the Council on Anthropology and Reproduction Book Prize. The book’s companion website can be found here.

Posted in News on May 30, 2023.