Philosophy Professor Explores LGBTQ+ Reproduction Experiences

Professor of philosophy Amanda Roth (SUNY Geneseo photo)

While philosophy research in reproduction has significantly increased in the last 20 years, LGBTQ+ people are often excluded from the conversation, says Amanda Roth, Geneseo philosophy professor and coordinator of the gender, sexuality, and women’s studies program.

She is exploring their experience more deeply through her research and courses. 

“For example, the choice to use alternative conception is often presented as a second-best option for straight couples, but that is not the story of when queer people use reproductive technology or donor conception. They have always known that they wouldn’t make kids traditionally with a partner,” says Roth. “What is their experience like? Thinking about it from queer perspectives is often the part that’s missing.”

During Spring 2026, Roth is teaching an upper-level philosophy class that focuses on reproductive ethics. She also recently published the book LGBTQ+ Family-Making, Reproductive Ethics, and the (Re)Shaping of Family Values (Routledge Research in Applied Ethics, 2026) and is editing an entry for the online resource Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy about feminist perspectives on family and reproduction. 

Roth invited seven students to assist her with both the book and encyclopedia projects. 

Philosophy majors Sam Olson ’27, Grace Hubbel ’26, and Riley Bowersox ’26 “read the entire book and played the role of a colleague, providing me with feedback on structure, clarity, and focus for each chapter,” says Roth. “They were really bright, amazing students.”

Other students, all of whom have taken gender, sexuality, and women’s studies courses with Roth, helped index the book, and are now compiling a collection of research articles published in philosophy journals for her to review for the encyclopedia entry.

Student assistants learn several sides of inquiry, says Roth: process, research, and publishing to consider new perspectives.

“Both philosophy and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies ask us to put aside our assumptions and rethink things about the world,” says Roth. “We apply critical thinking to things we think we know, or assume, and don’t normally investigate that deeply.”

Learn more about Geneseo’s programs in philosophy and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies.