Today is Mother’s Day in the UK and to mark the occasion, we want to celebrate some of the many incredible, resilient, adaptable and nurturing disabled mothers proving to society that people with disabilities can be hard-working, wonderful and loving parents too.
Below are 10 influential disabled mothers from the world of television, sport, literature, podcasting, blogging and social media who are showcasing their abilities to be parents despite their physical, sensory and cognitive impairments.
Katie Piper OBE
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Katie Piper OBE is a television presenter, model, author and social media influencer with 1.1 million Instagram followers. In 2008, she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend and an accomplice. It caused significant burns and scars to her face and blindness in one eye.
Since then, she has founded The Katie Price Foundation, which went on to launch the UK’s first-ever Burns Rehabilitation Centre in June 2019.
Katie has two daughters, Belle (10) and Penelope (6). Speaking to Disability Horizons in 2020, she shared what she enjoys most about being a mum:
“There are so many things I love about parenthood. The bond is extremely special to me and it’s a bond I never imagined I would have.
“It can be daunting at times, but the experiences of motherhood are a gift which keeps on giving.
“I also love being able to spend time with my girls and watching them grow and develop as individuals. Watching them from birth to where they are now has been a journey with some challenging times. But I wouldn’t have changed a single second of it.”
Follow Katie Piper on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
Christine McGuinness
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Christine McGuinness is a former model and TV personality and ex-wife of TV presenter and comedian Paddy McGuinness. She has three children – twins Leo and Penelope and younger daughter Felicity – all of whom live with autism.
In 2021, Christine joined Paddy in a BBC documentary called Our Family And Autism, in which they share the challenges they face raising three autistic children.
During the filming of the documentary, a professor tests Paddy and Christine’s autistic traits, and the results start a whole new journey for the couple when they find out Christine also has autism.
Following her diagnosis in August 2021, Christine gave her reaction to the news in her book, My Beautiful Nightmare:
“I have been confirmed as autistic. It’s strange, but I’ve noticed there are little hints throughout my life that I’m autistic and more like my children than I ever could have imagined.
“My issues with food, my social struggles, how hard I find it to make friends and stay focused, and my indecisiveness. The way I float through life reminds me of how my eldest daughter Penelope is.
“It all makes sense now. And as much as I’m not totally surprised, it’s still been emotional for me to accept, but it’s a relief as well.”
A year later, Christine released a second BBC documentary – Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism – where she uncovers a hidden world of thousands of autistic women who, like her, have been ignored by science and society.
Follow Christine McGuinness on Instagram and TikTok.
Libby Clegg MBE
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Libby Clegg MBE is a former Paralympic champion and world record holder in the T11 and T12 100m and 200m sprints. She has competed in four consecutive Paralympic Games, the 2013 IPC World Championships in France and she represented Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Libby has an eye condition called Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy, which affects her central vision, and she has the support and unconditional love of her guide dog Hattie.
As well as being a successful athlete, Libby also became a mother and gave birth to a baby boy called Edward in April 2019.
Following the birth of her son, Libby shared her initial experience of parenting with sight loss. Speaking to Disability Horizons in June 2019. She said:
“Regardless of having a sight impairment, embarking on an adventure such as parenthood has its challenges. However, having sight loss means that you have to do things a bit differently. But there are always ways to solve any problem. It’s also good to highlight some of the funny experiences with the public as it shows we’re just like everyone else!”
A couple of years later, Disability Horizons spoke to Libby again ahead of the Tokyo Paralympics and she gave more details on how it has been being a blind mother.
She said: “Edward is literally an absolutely beam of sunshine in my life. He is two and a half now and I thought I was going to have some real struggles being a blind mum. But it’s not really been as bad as I thought it would be.
“I’m very fortunate that he’s a really good baby. He’s fed well and he sleeps through the night, so I’m very fortunate.
“I thought that it was going to be really difficult. I had lots of worries and concerns. I think for me, it was more of the people thinking that things were going to be really difficult and hard and actually like making me feel anxious about it.
“But I think the feelings that I was having are feelings that every mum or dad has, I don’t think it’s specific to just the fact that you’ve got a disability.
“The little worries I did have were things like not knowing whether he was feeling ill or whether he had a rash or something because I wouldn’t be able to see it. But like every parent, I just know if there’s something wrong with my child.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it can be challenging. For me, going to a play park can be quite daunting because he obviously wants to run around and run away from me and go down the slide and disappear off. So, I just try and go at times when the park is really, really quiet and things like that. I sort of think it can massively stress me out if it’s really busy.”
Follow Libby Clegg on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
Cerrie Burnell
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Cerrie Burnell is a British actress, author and TV presenter. She has an upper limb difference, having been born with her right arm ending slightly below the elbow, and dyslexia. Cerrie is best known for being a presenter of the BBC children’s channel CBeebies from 2009 to 2017. She has also made appearances on popular TV shows, including Grange Hill and Doctors, and is a best-selling children’s author.
A couple of months before starting her presenting role on CBeebies, Cerrie gave birth to her daughter Amelia, who is of dual heritage. Cerrie describes herself as a solo parent – “I’m a solo mother rather than single mother… I prefer that term, I think it’s positive,” she explains to GoodtoKnow.
Speaking to BBC Ouch in 2013, Cerrie explained what it is like to be a disabled parent: “I was just like any other new mum really, up to my eyes. When I got my pushchair, I did make sure that it was one I could fold away quickly with one hand.
“I volunteered when I was younger in a children’s home in a leprosy centre in India, so I knew about changing nappies and all of that stuff.
“If you want to have a baby, however limited you might be, you’ll still find a way to do it.”
She also got asked what her daughter thinks about having a disabled mum: “Sometimes she’ll say ‘I want to have one hand. Why can’t I have one?’ Other times, ‘Do you wish you had two hands?’ I’ll say no, I’m fine, and she’ll say, ‘Oh good, can I have a cake?’”
Follow Cerrie Burnell on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
Alice Evans
Alice Evans is a podcaster and disability advocate working in the charity sector living in the East Midlands. She has the genetic eye condition retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and uses a guide dog. She is co-host of the lABLEd podcast, a show about disability, illness and difference, which will be celebrating its 100th episode later this month.
Alice and her husband became parents in the summer of 2023 to a baby boy, following a lengthy, hard and complex adoption process, which began in 2018. Alice decided to adopt rather than conceive naturally due to the risk of a biological baby getting her genetic eye condition. Plus, she felt there were many vulnerable babies and children in need of a loving home.
Five years and a global pandemic later, Alice and her husband were finally matched with a newborn baby boy whom they first fostered in early 2023 and, after many more months of legal procedures and paperwork, they eventually became his adopted parents in August 2023.
Speaking exclusively to Crip Life™, Alice explained her overall feelings about being a parent: “It’s been a little bit bizarre. I’ve been so busy but I also feel like I’ve not done anything. As he’s got older and he’s sleeping through the night and things like that, it’s better. But those first six to eight months, I was just keeping it together in terms of how much sleep I was getting.”
She added: “It has also just been incredible. Every day is just wonderful. It’s such a cliché, parents are like ‘You don’t understand until you’re a parent’ but it is wonderful in a way that I find it really hard to articulate. The closest I’ve ever come to trying to help people understand how special it is, that baby makes me laugh every day and he makes me smile and feel so full of love every day. Even when he’s kicking and screaming for no reason. Even when he won’t go to sleep, throwing up, snotting… he’s not quite at tantrum stage, but he is definitely starting to push it now he’s 14 months. Even then, there’s still a flame, of like, he is just incredible and every minute that I’m with him is special, even if it’s changing his nappy.”
Alice has admitted she does sometimes face some practical challenges caring for her son with a visual impairment:
“The practical challenges of being a visually impaired mum came in places that I hadn’t necessarily expected. Yes, spoon-feeding is inevitably messy when you can’t see your baby’s face and there have been times when I’ve put him in the bath in the middle of the day because it’s easier than trying to clean him off with baby wipes.
She added: “But the thing that is the hardest is not being able to read to him. My son loves books. One of his first words was “book” and he brings his little board books over for you to read with him. I’ve made the effort to spend some time using an electronic reader to learn some of his books by heart – because of his age the books are all only six or eight pages long and each page usually only has one or two lines of text so learning them isn’t too difficult. But it’s time-consuming and takes repetition to actually be able to recall the rhymes and stories when I’m sitting with him in his bedroom without my reader to hand.
“However, the hardest part is that I just can’t keep up with his demand for new books. He gets bored of reading the same five or six books that I’ve memorised and starts to bring me new, different books. Books I can’t see and haven’t learnt.
“And although I can sit and turn the pages with him, I can’t even see the pictures well enough to point out the different animals or take a guess at the story. I find it really upsetting actually, I want to encourage his love of books, I love reading myself, but at times like that, when he’s looking at me with expectation, pointing at things on the page that I can’t see, I feel so frustrated and sad.”
Follow Alice Evans on Twitter and listen to her on the lABLEd podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.
Alex Dacy
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Alex Dacy, also known as Wheelchair Rapunzel, is an American disability advocate and social media influencer with 1.2 million followers on TikTok and over 290,000 followers on Instagram.
She has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2 and uses a wheelchair. Last year she gave birth to a baby girl called Ari (who recently celebrated her first birthday on 7th March). It was an unplanned pregnancy, but Alex has always dreamt of being a mother. It was classed as a high-risk pregnancy and therefore she had the best possible medical care throughout her pregnancy.
While pregnant, she received scrutiny as to her ability to be a parent due to her physical disability. However, she has proved those doubters wrong and has shown that she can be very much involved in her daughter’s life. For instance, being able to hold her, comfort her, and feed her.
Not long after the birth, Alex said on Instagram: “Skin to skin is so incredibly powerful and bonding. It’s one of my favourite things to do with miss Ari. Since having her home, I am astonished at how much I can be a part of her care and development.
“I know what my mobility is, but until getting her home I really didn’t know how much I would be able to do with her. Turns out, I am one of the best feeders, and she always takes her bottles for me.
“I am usually the one that can comfort her the easiest, when and hears my voice or I hold her — she’s instantly at peace.”
Follow Alex Dacy on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Sophie Bradbury-Cox
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Sophie Bradbury-Cox is a social media influencer with 37.4K followers on Instagram. The 35-year-old from Northamptonshire, who lives with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and uses a wheelchair, is the mother to three-year-old Zyra.
She posts content about disabled and colourful fashion, being a disabled mum, accessible travel and her love for Disney.
Sophie believes “being a mum is so unique to everybody” and although she is a disabled mum who has to adapt and do things differently from other mums, she is essentially Zyra’s mum and she loves her, and gives her everything that she needs but just in a different way.
One of the hardest things that Sophie has had to face as a disabled mum is people’s perceptions that she cannot be a parent or conceive children. She admits when she and her daughter are out with her sister, people assume that Zyra is her sister’s daughter and not hers, purely on the fact she is in a wheelchair.
Sophie also likes to be open and honest about her disability with her daughter. Discussing this with HappyMummyHappyBaby.com, she said: “I think it’s important as a disabled person, to show the reality of my life and the ups and downs of having a disability because it really isn’t talked about enough. This has shaped me as a parent to be completely open and honest with Zyra and to bring her up discussing disability and to encourage her to be inclusive and understanding of other people’s situations.”
Follow Sophie Bradbury-Cox on Twitter and Instagram.
Nina Tame
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Nina Tame (formerly known as the Wheel Housewife of Essex) is a content creator and disability activist living with spina bifida (SB). She has four sons – Charlie, Casper, Clarke and Cary.
Nina did have concerns about her pregnancies because it may cause her spine bifida to deteriorate or she may pass on the condition to one of her babies. Thankfully, the first two pregnancies were a complete success.
Her third child was diagnosed with spina bifida and she was initially offered a termination by the health professionals. Reacting to this, she told The Guardian
“A termination of my very, very wanted baby, purely because he was like me. Because a life like mine isn’t worth living? What a load of bollocks.
“I’ve never felt guilty for giving my baby SB, because I don’t see my SB as a negative thing. Most of the time, it’s neither positive nor negative, it’s just a part of who I am. Still, I feel the judgment, I see the looks. Oh, the horror that I bred. How awfully irresponsible of me.”
She continued: “I think it’s hard for society to view disabled people as being parents for so many reasons. First, we’d have to have the sex to have the babies, and for some reason, disabled people are all seen as pure and good and totally sexless. In reality, some of us are proper little filthy minxes having all the amazing saucy sex.
“Then there’s this idea that someone in a wheelchair must be totally broken. If my legs don’t work, then surely nothing works. Then, of course, there’s the idea that surely if we need extra care, we can’t possibly give care.
“If people can get past these outdated attitudes and realise I am indeed the Mama, then I am inspirational by default. Proper cream-your-pants inspirational. Someone saw me taking my kids to school once and cheered in delight – ‘You’re doing so well!’”
Nina added: “Disability doesn’t make you a lesser parent. That’s just ableism whispering in your ear – and that guy’s a total wanker. It’s not a shame that you’re a disabled parent, either. It’s a shame we live in a hugely inaccessible world that totally erases disabled parents.”
Follow Nina Tame on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
TaLisha Grzyb
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TaLisha Grzyb is a Black American disability advocate, social media influencer and children’s author living with congenital, muscular dystrophy.
She is a mother of four boys – twins Micah and Mason, Tyson and Titan. Her YouTube channel Rolling Through Life with TaLisha, which has 48.3K subscribers, discusses the stereotypes of disabled parents and educates her viewers about being an involved parent even though she is disabled.
Her children’s book series – Rolling Through Life With Mommy – explains the adventures she has with her own children to break down fears that children might have about disability.
Speaking to Yahoo about her experiences being a disabled parent, TaLisha said: “I think the biggest misconception is that we are just out here having kids and expecting other people to raise our kids or do things for us. People feel like maybe we don’t deserve to be mums. As long as you’re present and you’re active and you have great intent and a great heart, anyone deserves to be a parent, let alone a mother.”
TaLisha added: “I feel like that is a part of my purpose on this earth to kind of empower people and let them know — don’t let anything stop you.”
Follow TaLisha Grzyb on Instagram.
Ami Ireland
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Ami Ireland is a disability blogger from Norfolk. She lives with multiple chronic illnesses and impairments including Sensory Ataxia, Transverse Myelitis, hearing loss, central vision loss and is a wheelchair user. In 2020, she gave birth to a baby girl called Daisy with her husband Ewan.
Following the birth, Ami suffered from the baby blues. Writing in her blog Undercover Superhero, she said:
“It pains me to write this, but I still didn’t feel like I was your mummy… … All of the emotions, anxieties, exhaustion and pain resulted in me having the baby blues. When we were finally discharged home, I struggled to bond with you. It was causing me so much pain to even hold you. I felt completely useless.
“Until one night… You were about 4 or 5 weeks old when you started to become really unsettled at night. Milk wouldn’t help you settle, nor would a dummy, or being all cosy and warm. Daddy tried singing to you, to no avail. As the early hours kept creeping forward, I was more awake so I held you close to me.
“I made sure you were comfy, with your head on my chest, so that you could hear my heartbeat. That’s when you started to settle.
“That was the moment I finally felt that I was your mummy. All my worries, bad thoughts and feelings faded as I was completely focused on you. I stayed awake for the rest of the night to make sure you got some sleep, and do you know what? I loved every second of watching you sleeping so peacefully, your little fingers and toes flexing with contentment.
“Since then, my love for you has grown more and more, every single day. Your smile is the most beautiful of smiles. You are turning into such a little character and it’s truly wonderful to watch your personality blossoming.”
Follow Ami Ireland on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Support for disabled parents
If you are a disabled parent or prospective parents looking for practical and/or emotional support, there are many organisations you can contact and communities you can join:
- Enabled2Parent
- Disabled Parents
- Family Rights Group
Disability, Pregnancy and Parenthood - DisALEd Parents Forum
If you know any other disabled parenting groups or organisations, please share them in the comments box or by contacting us.
Are you a disabled mother and can relate to the highs and lows of looking after your children while living with additional needs? Share your stories in the comments box, on social media or contact us to tell your personal story.
