Abstract of M. Spencer lecture

TO LOVE, TO HOLD AND HAVE IT TAKEN AWAY– THE PAIN OF

CHILDBIRTH FOR PARENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

M. Spencer

Intellectual Disability Rights Service, Parents with ID Project, Australia

A growing number of women and men with intellectual disability aspire

to be parents. Research suggests that this aspiration is not unrealistic

- if provided with the right support many adults with intellectual

disability can and do parent well. It is also an aspiration respected in

the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities (Article 23). However in reality it is an aspiration often

thwarted by the entrenched pessimistic attitudes, a lack of services

and a trend towards early removal in “child-at-risk” cases. The

following paper discusses the findings of an Australian project to

enable justice for parents with intellectual disability under surveillance

and investigation by the Statutory Child Protection Agency. The paper

will focus on the experience of parents with intellectual disability

whose babies were removed at birth. It will highlight the long term

emotional, social and economic costs of this practice. And lastly, make

recommendations about strategies and programs necessary if people

with intellectual disability are to exercise their rights and achieve their

aspiration – to love, to hold and raise their children.