Symbolic Sterilization and Passive Eugenics: Trans Reproductive Oppression in Portugal

In opposition to a history of marginalization and forced sterilization, in 2018, the Portuguese parliament legally recognized trans people’s self-identification processes, no longer requiring proof of clinical diagnosis or body modification procedures to change a person’s gender identity or first name in official documents. Despite the progress that the Gender Self-Determination Law ushered in, the lack of accessible fertility preservation, as well as the inadequate access to reproductive healthcare show the persistence of reproductive oppression faced by trans people. This paper utilizes a Reproductive Justice framework to analyze tribulations faced by trans people in Portugal within existing legislation on reproduction and gender identity. Through a critical analysis of the normative discourse on trans people’s reproductive choices in Portugal: (i) I verify how vulnerabilities of access to reproductive health for the trans population limit their decision-making and control over resources and information, and (ii) I provide a review of Portuguese healthcare guidelines and legislation spanning the last twenty years. I problematize the remaining of the medico-legal paradigm by asking how Reproductive Justice can contribute or not to reformulate these norms and to address, in a more comprehensive way, trans people's reproductive healthcare access. Pointing out the symbolic sterilization and the passive eugenics that trans people suffer, this paper helps to fill a gap in the trans reproductive justice framework in Portugal. Trans people are not sterile by default, and it is their right to make informed choices about their reproductive life, just as to access proper reproductive healthcare, materializing those choices.