PRE-COITAL CONTRACT

•	Please review contract. Be sure you understand
your rights and responsibilities before you sign it.
•	You have the right to review this with an attorney.
•	If you fail to sign and proceed with coitus without
my signed consent, I will formally charge you with
rape and pursue you legally.
•	If you sign and fail to fulfill the terms, your actions
will result in legal, financial, and social consequences.

Whereas YOU/YOUR (a human with male genitalia since birth
or medical intervention) are considering coitus with ME/I/MY 
(a human with female reproductive organs since birth or 
medical intervention), YOU
•	must first read and sign this contract thereby 
obtaining my consent to coitus; 
•	take DNA, HIV and STD tests and provide me results
from an approved medical laboratory;
•	use method(s) of contraception with a 100% success
rate; or if sterile, produce a notarized doctor’s note. 

Whereas, YOU hereby acknowledge pregnancy will have 
significant effects on MY body, MY finances, MY physical
and mental health, YOU hereby agree to contribute 
financially to the costs stated below in the following cases:

1.	I choose to terminate the pregnancy, YOU must pay for: 
A.	MY round-trip travel to and lodging in a state or country
of my choice for legal abortion,
B.	All physical and mental medical care,
C.	All missed income this travel and procedure 
cause ME,
D.	All legal costs incurred to assure compliance,
plus damages for MY pain and suffering.
2.	I choose to give birth, and then give our child up for adoption, 
YOU must pay for:
A)	All pre-natal, delivery, and post-partum medical care, 
including mental health, 
B)	Round-trip transportation to appointments,
C)	All work-leave and/or resulting loss of income 
this pregnancy causes ME,
D)	All clothing I must purchase to accommodate 
MY changing body,
E)	All legal fees incurred in surrendering our child 
for adoption, plus damages for pain and suffering.
3.	I choose to take primary and legal custody of our child, 
YOU must provide me with copies of YOUR last 3 years 
of tax returns and 5 last pay stubs, and YOU must pay for:
A)	Child support from birth including all food, shelter, 
clothing, medical care, entertainment, transportation, 
and education through age 26,
B)	All work-leave and/or resulting loss of income (including
promotions) this pregnancy causes ME,
C)	All clothing I must purchase to accommodate MY 
changing body,
D)	All attorneys’ fees incurred in enforcing this agreement,
plus damages for pain and suffering to our child and ME.

The undersigned agree to, and voluntarily enter into all the terms 
and obligations within this contract, and agree to terms and conditions, 
privacy statement, and consent to cookies.

______________________  ___________
Male			             Date	

______________________  ___________
Female			             Date	

TEEN><CLOSET<>WHEELS>

	
Because they cannot tell themselves,
they binge and purge;
because they cannot form the words,
they cut their arms in plaids;
because they will not talk at all,
they lose fields of vision for months;
because they feel alone, unloved,
they sleep all day, their tattered 
baby blanket hiding their face.

Then their permit beckons.

Now, behind the wheel,
they’re giddy, squealing,
shifting gears,
executing K and U turns,
driving backwards,
blinkers clicking,  
brakes releasing,
pedal gunning.

Their fine and gross skills, 
so recently stalled,
return in fumes of high-test fuel.
Anxiety flies out the sun roof;
confidence drives the control
they’ve been missing for two years.
Steel frame, airbags, bumpers
buffering heart and brain;
mirrors giving perspective 
in all directions; safety 
glass allowing clarity 
of future, they achieve

a license
irrevocable
to be themselves.

Pegi Deitz Shea is the president of the CT Council of Poets Laureate, and author of more than 500 published works of poetry, nonfiction and fiction for all ages. She founded and directs the series Poetry Rocks in Vernon, CT, and has taught in the Creative Programs of the University of Connecticut and the Institute of Children’s Literature. Her latest book is The Weight of Kindling (Grayson Books, 2022).