Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics
The women in this book may be among the last to have babies without the medical stamp of approval.
Today's society demands physical perfection from all and regards medical and scientific technologies as saviours to be embraced whatever the cost. To have a child who has been diagnosed with a disability is deemed not just unnecessary, but careless and even immoral.
Defiant Birth tells the courageous stories of women who continued their pregnancies despite intense pressure from doctors, family members and social expectations. These women were told they shouldn't have their babies because of a perceived imperfection in the child, or because their own disabilities do not fit within the parameters of what a mother should be. In the face of silent disapproval and open hostility, they have confronted the stigma of disability and had their children anyway.
Some of the writers tell of grave misdiagnosis, others of life-changing experiences, discovering the joy and love in children considered unworthy of life.
Melinda Tankard Reist dares to expose how eugenics is practised today, and how it is condoned, even expected, by mainstream society. More than ever before, doctors are diagnosing babies in the womb as less than perfect. But what if the 'cure' they offer will end the child's life?
An invaluable book.
—Nat Hentoff, columnist for United Media Newspaper Syndicate, the Village Voice and the Washington Times.
2019 | ISBN 9781925581911 | Paperback | 216 x 140 mm | 360 pp
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface to the 2019 Edition
Introduction
The story of Layiah: My wonder child - d.a.marullo
All is right with my world - Diana D. Aldrich
It’s about love - Teresa Streckfuss
Your baby will die: The story of Grace - Sandi Seyferth
Giving life a chance - Nirmmala Jegathesan
Finding joy in the weak among us - Julia Anderson
‘The best experience of my life’: HIV-positive women on pregnancy and birth in Australia - Karalyn McDonald
My children have compensated me tenfold - Johanne Greally
The ‘standard of care’ would be to abort my unborn child - Heather Arnold
Living in the shadow of Mönchberg - Elizabeth R. Schiltz
So glad I listened to my heart - Stephanie Gillespie
Gabriel was going to die, but first he was going to live - Amy Kuebelbeck
I wouldn’t swap them for anything - Leisa Whitaker
This baby would be loved - Alison Streeter
The blessings far outweigh the sorrows - Lise Poirier-Groulx
Just crash through it - Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds
Go with your instincts - Lisa Roche
They told me my child would want a new mother - Jo Litwinowicz
The most beautiful face on earth - Michelle Harmon
Afterword
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Reviews
This well-documented and compelling account of the pressures faced by women expecting disabled children calls for every child to be welcomed and loved, and deserves to be heeded by a very wide readership.
— Alison Davis, UK disability activist, author of From Where I Sit and founder of No Less Human.Though it was difficult for me to read, it was a testimony to strong women, who make their own choices and feel their lives are enriched because of having a “defiant birth”. The book includes notes and a good index. I was inspired and I think you will be too.
— Elaine Butler, Support for Families of Children with Disabilities Newsletter