Reproduction

The field of disability studies already contributes to the understanding of reproduction and disability and can further enrich thinking on this topic. Whether scholars and policy makers focus on children who will be born with disabilities, or on the less commonly discussed area of people with disabilities becoming genetic or rearing parents, the basic questions raised by reproduction concern quality-of-life issues for the child and family, and the effects on the larger society. When a child is born with a disability, concerns focus on the impact of the disability upon the child her- or himself, the impact of living with such a child on the life of the (assumed-to-be-nondisabled) parents and siblings, and the consequences of childhood disability for the educational, social service, and health care systems. Scholars and policy makers who consider the person with a disability as a parent question whether he or she will transmit a genetic condition to a child, the outcome for a nondisabled child raised by a parent with a disability, and the effects on society of families that include people with disabilities.