Charis welcomes Liam Kali in conversation with Yemi Combahee to discuss Queer Conception: The Complete Fertility Guide for Queer and Trans Parents-to-Be. The only evidence-based, up-to-date fertility guide for queerpeople from an experienced health care provider, this is also the first to be transgender-inclusive and body-positive. This event is co-sponsored by Freedom Births Doula Services. An inclusive Full-Spectrum Doula Services and Reproductive Empowerment in Atlanta, GA.

Here, queer prospective parents will find sound advice for navigating complex medical, social and financial decisions. Trusted fertility midwife Kristin Liam Kali walks you through the baby-making process: creating a timeline; fertile health for every body; preconception tests; identifying ovulation; donors, gamete banks, and surrogacy; methods of insemination including IUI, IVF and reciprocal IVF; navigating early pregnancy; and preparing for infant feeding, including lactation induction for trans women and nongestational parents.

This book is for all LGBTQ+ readers interested in creating family through pregnancy: anyone who identifies as queer, lesbians, gay men, bisexual people, trans and nonbinary people, couples, single parents by choice, poly families, and coparents. It’s an antidote to a culture and medical system that all too often centers heterosexual couples experiencing infertility while overlooking our unique needs. It also contains sidebars with guidance for reproductive healthcare professionals.

Kristin Liam Kali, Licensed Midwife (they/them) is the owner of MAIA Midwifery & Fertility Services, PLLC. They have supported thousands of LGBTQ+ parents through fertility and preconception care, in-home insemination, prenatal care, childbirth education, delivery in homes and birth centers, postpartum care, lactation management, and parenting groups. A devoted advocate for queer and trans families everywhere, Kali also serves as a speaker and consultant educating physicians, midwives, and childbirth professionals in culturally sensitive and clinically appropriate care, including the widespread use of gender-inclusive language.

Yemi Combahee (she/her) is a Fat Black Queer Femme liberation strategist, full-spectrum doula, and reproductive justice organizer. Yemi is currently the Constellation Hive organizer at Black Feminist Future and she has a background in abortion advocacy, abortion clinic administration, and intimate partner violence legal advocacy. Yemi is also currently a co-facilitator of the queer pregnancy support groups at MAIA Midwifery. Yemi began her interest in liberation work as a Comparative Women’s Studies major at Spelman College where she began organizing and developing her radical worldview. Her work was also shaped by her time as a radical feminist bookseller at Charis Books. Yemi remains rooted in care work through her full-spectrum doula practice, Freedom Births, where she supports marginalized folks in Georgia through their reproductive journeys.

This event is free and open to all people, especially to those who have no income or low income right now, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle's mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CharisCircle?code=chariscirclepage

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. We are actively learning the best practices for this technology and we welcome your feedback as we begin this new way of connecting across distances.

By attending our virtual event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.

Queer Conception: The Complete Fertility Guide for Queer and Trans Parents-to-Be--Liam Kali in conversation with Yemi Combahee