Editor’s note (July 16, 2025): We are resurfacing this 2019 story during Disability Pride month 2026. The original text has been lightly copyedited only to reflect Rewire News Group‘s current editorial style; details of the story, such as names and ages, have not been changed.

Heather Watkins’ daughter is now 25. But the disability rights advocate still remembers the problems she faced picking her up from preschool two decades ago.

“The entrance had a few stairs,” Watkins, who has a congenital form of muscular dystrophy that affects her mobility, recalled via email. “When enrolling her, they initially seemed manageable, but after a long day of work … I hadn’t quite factored how much of a chore they’d become.”

“So, I started calling ahead to sign her out and have someone bring her out to [the] car,” Watkins said. “Well, the looks and side-eyes I caught from non-disabled parents judging me a ‘lazy’ and ‘entitled’ were unbelievable.”

Watkins continued to experience accessibility barriers as her daughter got older and played sports and danced in recitals. “Some of the venues weren’t always accessible, and this was so anxiety-producing since there were times I had to miss out or [the] view was obstructed in some way,” she said, noting that access to bathrooms in such venues also caused her anxiety about drinking too much liquid.

Parenting is hard work. But for parents with disabilities, the challenges can feel insurmountable—not because of the parent’s disability itself, but because they are raising children in a society not built for them.

Watkins knew she “wasn’t going to be the parent doing too much running and jumping, all the rough and tumble aspects, because I couldn’t.” She said, “I had to really create this bond and emotional connection through lots of age-appropriate communication and awareness.”

Throughout the last century, the eugenics movement led to the involuntary sterilization of countless disabled women and others deemed “unfit to procreate.” Such a mentality still endures today, in the form of discriminatory policies that discourage or deny the right of parenthood to........

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