"The Health System Just Wasn't Built for Us": Queer Cisgender Women and Gender Expansive Individuals' Strategies for Navigating Reproductive Health Care

Abstract

Background: The LGBTQ health disparities literature documents barriers to comprehensive and queer-inclusive care. Queer cisgender women and gender expansive individuals assigned female at birth experience myriad health disparities related to reproductive health, in part owing to the health care system. However, few studies have examined how queer individuals cope with and overcome barriers to queer-competent reproductive health care. This study aims to understand the strategies queer cisgender women and gender expansive individuals use to meet their reproductive health needs.

Methods: Investigators conducted interviews with 22 queer cisgender women and gender expansive individuals assigned female at birth about their experiences seeking reproductive health care services. We used inductive coding and thematic analysis to identify themes related to meeting reproductive health and health care needs.

Results: Findings highlight the prevalence of negative and harmful experiences while seeking reproductive health care. In response to these negative experiences, individuals developed active strategies to meet their health needs, including seeking information and community, seeking alternative models of care, and managing identity disclosure. Importantly, these strategies varied in effectiveness, depending on participants' social and economic advantage.

Conclusions: Queer individuals face numerous barriers to queer-competent reproductive health care when seeking reproductive health services. While queer patients are often resilient and creative, developing strategies to get their needs met, the presence of such strategies highlights the need for structural changes in the health system to better serve queer patients.