Image: Sharon McCutcheon, Unsplash

Rainbow Communities and Baby Loss

There are limited resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents who experience the loss of a baby. Our maternity systems are focused on the heterosexual experience of parenthood and are slowly changing to include everyone's experience of fertility, pregnancy, and birth.  We need to provide information and resources on the death of a baby for everyone within the maternity spectrum.

Here are some websites, articles and information sheets that may be of assistance to health and caring professionals working with LGBT+ parents.
Website - Return to Zero: Hope

RTZ: Hope is a US non-profit organisation providing holistic support, resources and community for all people who have experienced unimaginable loss during the journey to parenthood. Their site has a page offering resources and information for, and about, LGBT+ parents and baby loss. RTZ will also be starting online support groups for LGBT+ parents who have experienced loss, around March 2022.


Website - Trans Fertility Co.

Trans Fertility Co. was developed by trans gestational parent and fertility educator Trystan Reese. After going through his own pregnancy with little access to data on trans fertility, he committed himself to building resources for trans people and their supporters. The site has articles on academic research, videos on many aspects of trans fertility, and opportunities for fertility and family-building practitioners to deepen their commitment to the trans community. At this stage the site is focused on fertility with baby loss information still to be added.

Website - The Legacy of Leo
"I would describe being a same sex couple experiencing baby loss as being in a small pond, within a small pond. Whilst neither pond is actually that small once you start swimming around in it – you have to search far and wide to find others likes yourself."

This website was set up after a couple experienced the loss of their precious baby, Leo Phoenix. After a journey of three IUI cycles and two IVF cycles, tragically Leo was stillborn at 37 weeks and 4 days. This website has links to resources and a blog.

LGBT Pregnancy Loss - Australian Psychological Society Information Sheet (Downloadable PDF)

This information sheet has been prepared for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people who experience pregnancy loss, and the mental health professionals who work with them. It covers the following questions:
  • What is pregnancy loss?
  • What might pregnancy loss mean for LGBT people?
  • How might mental health professionals assist LGBT people who have experienced pregnancy loss?
  • What are some useful further resources?

Website - LGBTQ+ Reproductive Loss
This website is designed as 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 & adoption professionals, therapists & counsellors. All of the advice and examples of commemoration come from LGBTQ+ parents, families, and individuals who have experienced reproductive loss. There is no single unified set of guidance, nor is there always adequate language to convey the complexity of emotional experiences.
Journal Article - BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2020 (Downloadable PDF)
Men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people’s experiences of pregnancy loss: an international qualitative study
by Damien W. Riggs, Ruth Pearce, Carla A. Pfeffer, Sally Hines, Francis Ray White and Elisabetta Ruspini