Reclaiming reproduction : disabled mothers’ resistance to ableist narratives

Abstract

This paper examines the pervasive challenges faced by disabled parents, particularly mothers, at the intersection of gendered expectations, ableism, and systemic discrimination. It explores how eugenics-based ideologies historically disciplined disabled individuals’ reproductive autonomy, excluding them—especially women with intellectual disabilities—from parenthood and positioning their bodies as sites of control and surveillance. Through qualitative interviews with disabled mothers and professionals, the study reveals systemic barriers, including discriminatory practices in healthcare, societal assumptions of incompetence, and lack of contextual support. It underscores the lifelong impact of these practices on reproductive and parenting trajectories, emphasizing the need to dismantle medicalized, deficit-based approaches in favour of rights-based and intersectional frameworks. [extract]