Rose (Pritika) Dasgupta, PhD MPH MHI MS

This is about more than my fertility journey. It's about revolution in the most intimate sense: refusing to let fear win, building community as a form of resistance, and choosing hope even when the future feels uncertain.

I address some questions I get the most: Why have a child during such uncertain times? How can a trans person carry a pregnancy? Why not "just adopt"? And most importantly, why stay and fight instead of leaving?

I weave together the personal and political to ask: What does it mean to insist on belonging in a place that's actively trying to erase you?

Rooted in Defiance: Why I’m Staying, Creating Life, and Refusing to Be Erased A reflection piece about staying rooted ((at least for now) in the face of denaturalization threats.

In my latest Substack piece, I explore what it means to pursue parenthood as a trans, disabled person while facing potential denaturalization.

Optimizing Life Disruptions for Maximum ROI: A Case Study in Getting Dumped, Laid Off, Finding Self-Worth, and What It Taught Me about B2B Sales. Just Kidding, This Isn't a LinkedIn Hustle Post. A self-reflection and love letter to myself

I haven't been on here much lately, but I have new Substack posts! Here is one from today: a self-reflection post about my growth despite the joke title. If you've ever felt both incredibly capable and desperately in need of support, then maybe this will resonate! #Disability #SelfReflection

US currently well on the way to full-blown authoritarianism....it looks like.

“So you have to shrink who is defined as an American, with trans people they are experimenting how to do that." - Imara Jones @imarajones.bsky.social

“And the only way they will sustain them over time is to remove people from public life that can have an influence in voting, protesting and making their voice heard over time.” - Imara Jones @imarajones.bsky.social

“So you can actually experiment on the cocktail of regulations and laws that you'll then expand to wider populations, because they fundamentally understand that their policies are unpopular.” - Imara Jones @imarajones.bsky.social

"Trans people are a perfect population to road test authoritarianism in the United States - because it's such a small group of people that you have convinced other people not to care about…” - Imara Jones @imarajones.bsky.social

I have begun the GARGANTUAN task of updating my GitHub profile with my portfolio, "better" updates of my previous (very hastily written) code, all my notes/code/stuff I think might be useful for public consumption, etc.

Trying to make myself "known" in the programmer space. It's weird. *shrugs*

I received a heartbreaking email today: A paper in a special issue I’m editing is being retracted because one of its authors is afraid of losing their job and their legal status in the U.S. if they publish a scientific study on evolution. Yes, on evolution, nature's engine of diversity.

I’m Scared of Unfair Detention Just Because I’m Brown and I Exercise My First Amendment Rights Originally written on March 29, 2025

Just wrote this post: "I’m Scared of Unfair Detention Just Because I’m Brown and I Exercise My First Amendment Rights"

I talk about how my right to "#Life, #Liberty, and #ThePursuitofHappiness" has been broken for me and how I derive hope from #community.

open.substack.com/pub/drroseda...

the transmasc community is very white American centered so I often feel extremely alienated. a lot of the art I made and my dysphoria came from the idea that I couldn't look like a white Twink. my gf helped me realize that I could be black and cute and desirable and it did so much for my self image.

*gets package errors because R version is too old*

*installs latest version of R*

*gets shinyapps errors because R version is too new*

🙃🙃🙃

I wish more prominent scientists would speak out about what is happening under Trump.

Yes, there is a real threat to one's livelihood of doing so. Being a scientist has been my lifelong dream, but there's honest work I can do outside of science, and I'd rather do that than serve the current regime.

“We don’t have to take rejection as a reflection of our self-worth. If somebody who is important (or even someone unimportant) to you rejects you or your choices, you are still real, and you are still worth every bit as much as you would be if you had not been rejected.”
- Melody Beattie

“Unless one lives and loves in the trenches, it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless.”
- Audre Lorde

“Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.”
- Jacob M. Braude

I'm a non-Newtonian genderfluid creature.

Tell your friends you love them. Okay, thanks ❤
(I love you.)

#love #friendship #community #solidarity #reminders

The Urgent Need for Intersectional Solidarity: We Need to Talk About Privilege in LGBTQ+ Communities While Other Communities Are Being Targeted Originally written on February 16, 2025

The #erasure of #trans histories isn't just about words—it's about existence. If you've been chronically perturbed like I have, you might be interested in reading my most recent #Substack article.

#humanrights #immigration #immigrants #disability #intersectionality #solidarity #thoughtpiece

I embrace that I am emotionally connected to my partners and as a result, the choices I make can have an emotional impact on them. While I will not let my partners feelings govern my choices, I will let them inform my choices and I will consider them in my decision making.

There is such a thing as being careless and irresponsible with someone’s feelings. If I claim to care about someone, that means I care about the totality of the individual, and that includes their feelings. I desire to demonstrate to my partners that I am responsible WITH their feelings.

No, I’m not “responsible” for their feelings, but I understand that being with someone means that I’ll likely have an impact on their feelings & I desire to acknowledge & attempt to understand that impact. And I want that impact to be positive, as much as I’m capable of & willing to achieve.

When learners see cool viz, they often cannot imagine just how many iterations it took to get there. Look at how this makes the work visible!

{camcorder} is amazing. But not as amazing as Nicola herself 😍 🍩 📊

(2/2) “And new ones will find you and cherish you.... And at last you'll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth.

And that is not speaking.“

- Audre Lorde

(1/2) “And the speaking will get easier and easier.

And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don't miss them.“

- Audre Lorde

I genuinely believe that while human rights are in danger (all across the world), catastrophization is their goal - and that *our collective rest is part of our resistance*… so we can all continue doing the work to improve human connection and peace (the work was never supposed to end).

DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Programs: Opinions on Leading Us Beyond Performative Action Originally written January 2023

(9/9) Read my 8 suggested actions for making actual change. Because this work? It's not optional. #DEIisntdead #DEI

open.substack.com/pub/drroseda...