LGBTQ+ Doulas usually work as a Community-Based Full-Spectrum Doula being skillful in serving people who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community, that is, the Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Plus (LGBTQ+) community. In most cases, the LGBTQ+ Doula also identifies as an LGBTQ+ individual.
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The LGBTQ+ Doula typically helps LGBTQ+ people throughout fertility, pregnancy, birthing, adoption, and parenting trajectories by offering them non-judgmental trauma-informed informational, educational, practical, logistical, physical, emotional, and advocacy support.
An LGBTQ+ Doula can be of great help to LGBTQ+ people because the latter can use the services of a trained, professional companion who really sees them, who understands their family structure and community, who knows what questions to ask, and can help them navigate a healthcare and birthing system that usually isn’t favorable i.e. uninformed, non-affirming, unaccepting, and/or prejudiced with regard to LGBTQ+ individuals and their particular concerns.
In addition, LGBTQ+ individuals are confronted with an increasingly difficult landscape of laws concerning LGBTQ+ parents, bans on gender-affirming care, religious and faith-based refusals for care or support in a reproductive trajectory, and issues with insurance coverage.
At any rate, within the LGBTQ+ Doula spectrum you’ll find several other Doula specializations that are especially applicable to minutely supporting LGBTQ+ people, such as the Transgender Transition Doula, Adoption Doula, Surrogacy Doula, and Fertility Doula, and you will often see that the LGBTQ+ Doula combines one or more of these roles.
