Anyone who has any connection with disability has a number of things that could be weighing heavily on their minds right now: cuts to Medicaid, the elimination of the Department of Education, massive cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services including the dismantling of the Administration of Community Living.
A person in a wheelchair embracing another person, in an outdoor park setting.
There is, quite frankly, a lot to be concerned about. For everyone. But with Mother’s Day last month and Father’s Day just around the corner, we need to talk about a group that is often overlooked: parents with disabilities. Cuts to crucial services will undoubtedly make the lives of parents with disabilities and their children much harder. It is access to these services—medical care, community living resources, and educational support for students with disabilities—that significantly supports their parenting and ability to remain focused on their families.
According to The National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities, “About 7% of parents have a disability in the U.S.” That’s 4.5 million parents with disabilities taking care of and raising children in this country.
There are, unfortunately, many misperceptions, as well as plenty of stigma, working against parents with disabilities.
According to the ADA National Network, “Parents with disabilities are at a higher risk of being referred to child welfare services. Once a part of the system, they are more likely to lose their parental rights. Individuals with disabilities who are seeking to foster or adopt a child also encounter significant barriers.”
While this information might lead one to believe that people with disabilities are unfit parents, that is not true.
“There is little evidence that parents with disabilities abuse or neglect their children at higher rates than anyone else,” The Conversation reports. “Instead, there’s evidence that many young adults raised by a parent with a disability have very positive childhood experiences.”
This is echoed by the Disabled Parenting Project: “Research has overwhelmingly found that a parent’s disability in and of itself does not predict one’s ability to raise children.”
So then why do so many people believe otherwise? Why are there so many states where simply having a disability is grounds for losing parental rights?
Part of the problem is, of course, misperceptions and stigma. One way to counter that stigma is through getting the stories of parents with disabilities out into the wider world.
Book cover "UNFIT PARENT" by Jessica Slice next to a smiling person seated indoors.
A new book by Jessica Slice titled Unfit Parent: A Disabled Mother Challenges an Inaccessible World shines a light on the experience of parenting with a disability. Slice, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, writes that contrary to popular belief, she does not believe her disability interfered with being a parent. In fact, she came to the opposite conclusion.
“I now believe that being disabled and learning from disability culture both prepared me for the challenges of early parenthood and ultimately set me up to be a more creative and flexible caregiver,” she writes in an excerpt published in The Atlantic. “As a disabled person in an inaccessible world, I am accustomed to innovating and problem-solving throughout the day. Parenting requires many of the same skills.”
Another example of parents with disabilities is New York disability rights attorney and activist Stephanie Woodward and her husband Ryan Chalmers, both wheelchair users, who are raising 5 foster children, including baby triplets. They’ve been chronicling their journey on Tik Tok.
According to People Magazine, the couple, who married in 2020, knew they wanted to be parents.
Stephanie Woodward and her husband, Ryan with their triplets.
“However, both adoption and conception turned out to be challenging journeys,” People reports. “The couple faced numerous obstacles, including many caseworkers questioning their ability to adopt because they are wheelchair users, despite their specific interest in adopting children with disabilities.”
The couple decided to be foster parents. In 2024, a boy, aged 6, and his younger brother were placed with them. Shortly after that, they found out that thanks to IVF, Woodward was pregnant. With triplets.
"When I was pregnant, people commented, asking who would care for these babies, as if they thought I would just sit back and watch them," Woodward, who is the executive director of Disability EmpowHer Network, told People. "I hoped that by sharing our journey, they would learn and grow, letting go of preconceived notions and stereotypes that suggest people with disabilities can’t be good parents."
While both of these stories are empowering examples of people with disabilities defying stereotypes, they are also stories of parents who have the means and support they need to be successful and loving parents. Not all parents with disabilities are so positioned. Cuts to their support systems could have dire consequences for them and their families.
We must continue our work to make this a more fair and equitable world for everyone, including parents with disabilities and their children. Sharing stories is an important part of this equation, but so is fighting for core needs of people with disabilities like Medicaid, accessible and affordable housing, and accessible transportation.
If you’re looking for resources, support, or a way to get involved, contact your local Center for Independent Living today.