Whether you have yet to decide whether to be a parent, or you have three children all grown, you probably have spent some time wondering about the affect of your illness on your child (or child-to-someday-be).

Although the limitations of illness can be devestating, there are many, many people who have shared that becoming a parent was worth it all: the stares as you parked in a disabled parking spot and then got out the stroller, the times you had to watch by the sidelines instead of participating, or that school play that you missed because you were recovering from surgery.

Unfortunately, there aren't a great deal of resources out there for the young woman who is concerned about how she will lift a child, or the father who is an emotional wreck because he can't throw a ball with his son.  We have just recently began to take a closer look at parenting and we hope that you will enjoy what we have collected so far.  

Conception
Pregnancy
Adoption
Explaining Your Illness to Your Child
Parenting Resources
Infertility
Helpful Products for Parents with Illness
Other areas of interest
When Your Child is the One Who is Ill

Articles on Our Website

A Mother's Love
A Son's Love in Return
Explaining Illness to Your Kids
When You Decide Not To Parent

A perinatologist is an obstetrician who has subspecialized in the care of pregnant women and unborn babies. If you have a complicated pregnancy or one at high risk of having complications, you may be referred to one of these physicians. They are often the specialists who perform the level 2 or detailed ultrasound examination. To find out risks to unborn babies due to your medications, a perinatologist would be the doctor to talk to!

Taking prednisone? Be sure to have a physician monitor your ovulation to ensure that you are ovulating consistently, as even small dosages of prednisone can cause ovuation to stop entirely.

CONCEPTION

• High Risk Pregnancy Support A helpful website for anyone concerned about pregnancy and illness.
• Carol's High Risk Pregnancy Diary
• High Risk Pregnancy Links
  

Helpful books:
Taking Charge of Your Infertility
Toward Intimacy: Family Planning and Sexuality Concerns of Physically Disabled Women

PREGNANCY

• What is High Risk Pregnancy and am I in that catagory?
• Moms on Bedrest - a place to chat.
• Sidelines is a network of support groups across the country for women and their families experiencing complicated pregnancies.

ADOPTION

• Ten Most Commonly Asked Questions About Foster Care
• Everything I needed to know for parenting, I learned from infertility
• How to Make Adoption an Affordable Option
• Much Much More from About.com regarding adoption
• Adoption Search Engine
• Adoption Bulletin Board

You May Be Able to Adopt! A Guide to the Adoption Option for Prospective Mothers with Disabilities and Their Partners by Megan Kirshbaum, et. al. and Linda Toms Baker, et. al. This is an excellent guidebook for people with disabilities who are considering adoption as a means of building a family. This is an excellent supplement to other publications about adoption, because it deals specifically with issues that prospective parents with disabilities may face. For more information about this publication, visit the Through the Looking Glass web site or give them a call at 1-800-644-2666.

EXPLAINING YOUR ILLNESS TO YOUR CHILD

• Cancer and Your Family;
• Mama Zooms by Jane Cowen-Fletcher. This is a touching story written at the preschool level about a little boy who has many adventures in his mother's magic zooming machine, her wheelchair.
• Bigger Than the Sky : Disabled Women on Parenting
• Helping Children With Ill or Disabled Parents: A Guide for Parents and Professionals

Disability, Pregnancy, and Parenting International (DPPI). DPPI is published in the UK 4 times a year. Cost for North Amerian subscribers is $40 for professionals/institutions, $20 for individuals (mailing to private addresses only). To enable processing of US currency checks DPPI uses an intermediary: Auburn Press. Checks and money orders should be made payable to Auburn Press and sent with subscriber's information to: Auburn Press, 10500 Lexington Lane, Frankfort, Illinois 60423-2216, USA. Any original article accepted for publication earns a free year's subscription and DPPI encourages disabled parents to contribute!

PARENTING RESOURCES