The Disabled Mother

Beyond the dictionary definition, what does it mean to be disabled? What does it mean to be viewed as weaker, as inefficient as a burden? Why is it ok to have your children taken away because of a disability?

One of our readings this week was The Baby and the Bath Water: Disabled Women and Motherhood in Social Context by Carol Thomas. In the article, there is clearly a pressure felt by the disabled women to demonstrate that they are, or could be, "good enough mothers". It breaks my heart to hear of a woman who wants nothing more to be a mother, but because she has this thing that doctors have deemed as a disability, she feels as if she can't. Why is that even a thing? The question shouldn't even be whether or not they can do it but why is it that others want to see her fail? Why are they hoping for the demise of a child's mother?

Listening to the discussion in class, I heard talks of women that were found to be disabled being sterilized. Their right to have children was stripped of them and they didn't even have a say in it. Thankfully, these heinous acts are illegal now. However, the fact that they were even legal at all is disgusting. The logic behind it is even worse. These doctors thought they were doing the world a favor by not allowing any more possibly disabled children to be born in the world. Did they ever stop to think that maybe their time would be better used figuring out ways to make sure that these mothers did succeed; that these children were given the best life that they could? That sounds like a better use of time.

Thanks for reading more of Chloe's Rants. See you next week!