ABSTRACT
Mothers with disabilities are inadequately researched; they are also notoriously underserved by policies relating to families and parenthood. Further, this lack of information about and accommodation for the experiences and needs of mothers with disabilities is often at the root of the challenges faced by disabled women in having, raising and maintaining custody of their children. The dearth of information, policy and services relating to disabled mothering is firmly embedded in historical and enduring ideas about disability and the right to reproduce and rear children. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to speculate that this elision operates as a covert yet consistent extension of the history of disability in general and eugenics in particular. In this chapter, I begin with a brief discussion concerning disability and attitudes regarding the ‘appropriateness’ of parenting with a disability. This is followed by a consideration of gender specificity in mothering a child with disabilities. I thenmove on to give an overview of some intersections between current policies and services and the experiences of mothers with disabilities in the West. I conclude with some suggestions for researching and theorizing mothering and disability, arguing specifically for a feminist and poststructural approach to understanding the barriers and possibilities in policies and practices relating to mothering with a disability.
