The Liminal Chrysalis: Imagining Reproduction and Parenting Futures Beyond the Binary is an edited collection that works to identify and deconstruct many of the countless binaries that operate within the realms of parenting and reproduction. Weaving poetry, speculative fiction, and autobiography, with interviews, critical analysis and research, the authors take as their starting place that there is magical potential and possibility in the ambiguous, disorienting spaces of the in-between and the beyond. The collection challenges the constructedness of binaries connected to sex, gender, sexuality, and parenting roles, as well as the cis-, hetero-, repro-, trans- and amatonormativities which pervasively circulate and inform how we think about parenting and reproductive life. The collection amplifies the voices of non-binary authors among others, and tells stories of menstruation, pregnancy, abortion, assisted reproductive technologies, fertility preservation, parenthood, and activism in the face of violent binaries and reproductive injustices.

H. Kori Doty is a settler of European ancestry living in Lekwungen Territory after 6 transformative years living and learning while homesteading in Sinixt Territory. They are a community educator and their initiatives in sexual health, harm reduction, trans resilience building, and practical skills have been driven by a hunger for justice and equity. They are a solo parent to a 3-year-old; from this position, have challenged the province to change the way babies are assigned gender. They are a leader in best practices in education and strive to change hearts, minds, relationships, systems and paradigms with their patience, eloquence, and perspectives.

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A.J. Lowik is a PhD Candidate with the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia, where their research focuses on trans people’s reproductive lives, health, and decision-making processes. A.J. has worked extensively with abortion providers and other reproductive health providers on creating trans-inclusive policies, practices, and spaces. A.J. works at the BC Centre on Substance Use, with a team of researchers focused on creating research, policies and treatment options that consider the unique needs of 2SLGBTQ+ people who use substances. They are the Gender Equity Advisor with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity. A.J. loves cats, yoga, board games and potato chips. They are an unapologetic feminist, a queer liberationist, and work to disrupt cisnormativity everywhere they go.

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