Pregnancy prevention and unintended pregnancy across gender identity: a cross-sectional study of college students
Colleen A. Reynolds
A B * and Brittany M. Charlton A B C
A Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
B Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
C Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
Sexual Health 18(5) 441-443 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH21103
Submitted: 25 May 2021 Accepted: 29 September 2021 Published: 4 November 2021
© 2021 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Using data from the Fall 2015 through Spring 2018 National College Health Assessment, we examined receipt of pregnancy prevention information and unintended pregnancy by gender identity among participants aged 18–25 years who were assigned female at birth (n = 185 658). Non-binary students were more likely than cisgender students to report wanting (adjusted risk ratio [ARR]: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.08–1.16), receiving (ARR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.04–1.13), and having an unmet need for (ARR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.02–1.19) pregnancy prevention information from their school. Transmasculine students did not significantly differ from cisgender students for these outcomes. Non-binary and transmasculine students were as likely as cisgender students to have a past-year unintended pregnancy. Non-binary and transmasculine young people are at risk for unintended pregnancy and need access to comprehensive sexual education, reproductive health counseling, and care.
Keywords: female-to-male, health disparity, non-binary, pregnancy prevention, reproductive health, transgender, transmaculine, unintended pregnancy.
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