About Deathfat Doula

Isabella Carr is the founder of Deathfat Doula. She is one of the only end-of-life practitioners serving fat people.

I am a deathworker specializing in end-of-life care, education, and advocacy for fat people and others with deviant bodies. I am currently a graduate student in my final year at Harvard Divinity School. I began my doula training in 2020 and have completed 800 hours of fieldwork with Death Doula LA and Compassion & Choices. I am currently the 2024-2025 Engagement Fellow at Compassion & Choices. My doula and research focus is a material and theological project titled Deathfat, which examines the intersections of fatness, funerary practices, and futurity. My work was selected for presentation at the 2023 American Academy of Religion Annual Conference and I will present as part of a panel in April at the 2025 American Society on Aging’s Annual Conference.

As a doula, my work prioritizes collaboration with fat individuals and organizations that serve fat communities, providing resources, workshops, and direct care. My offerings include pastoral and spiritual care and addressing medical obstacles fat people face throughout their lives, such as medical discrimination, limited access to preventative care, testing, and screening, higher rates of in-hospital deaths, delayed hospice admissions, and increased funerary and disposition costs. My tailored approach aims to empower fat people and their loved ones to navigate end-of-life care with dignity and autonomy. I have collaborated with organizations like Death Doula LA, Compassion & Choices, and the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance to bring fat people into focus in life and in death.

I am based in Cambridge, MA, and can serve in-person clients in the Boston metro. Originally from Portland, OR, and with many years spent in LA, I work with clients virtually or can refer out to local and trusted practitioners. Before Harvard Divinity School, I studied fine art at New York University and religion at the University of Southern California. I wrote my honors thesis on fat sexuality and spirituality and am interested in the wide and complex experiences of fat embodiment.

Deathfat Doula featured at Congressional Cemetery’s Death Doula Days (Washington, DC)

Me and Jill at the opening of Studio Death Doula LA

My first meeting with my mentor Jill Schock, founder of Death Doula LA

A faux death announcement made as part of the Steady Waves Center’s Living Funeral Ceremony

A photo of Mount Olivet Cemetery (Baltimore, MD) where Blanche Moses is buried

A fat cabal at the American Academy of Religion Conference (San Antonio, TX)