Kendall,

I find your question interesting especially given the fact that I am now
expecting myself.  When Jim and I first "got serious" and thought about
marriage, I immediately started asking questions of my OB-GYN.  I wanted to
know if there was any medical reason I should not have kids before I
actually married him.  I knew Jim wanted kids and didn't want that to be
something of an issue.  Well, every doctor I talked to from my regular
family doc to the OB-GYN to the orthopedist or PT all said I'd be a great
mom and kind of "dismissed" my concerns.  So, here in conservative Lancaster
PA at least I think doctors are pretty open-minded.

In fact, the maternal-fetal specialist we are seeing (because in addition to
CP I am also lucky enough to have a blod clotting disorder that makes me a
high risk pregnancy) actually told me that in the last 15 months he had
delivered 3 babies to women with CP...all vaginally.  So, that makes me feel
really good...a doc with a CLUE abotu cpers, imagine that!

But I wonder if one of the reasons they are all so nonchalant about me
having a baby is because I am a teacher working on my doctorate?  Would I
get the same "You'll be a great mom" speech if I was developmentally
disabled or uneducated/unemployed?

Linda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kendall David Corbett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 1:48 PM
Subject: Reproductive freedom


> The reason I was interested in knowing where and when this happened was
> to find out if it's still going on, or happened recently, and if so, if
> it's education that needs to be undertaken nationally, or if there are a
> few "boneheads" out there that we may never reach.  I'm including both
> my sig files in this, because I'm interested both personally and
> professionally.  My wife did a presentation at a conference in late
> March where the topic came up, and the consensus seemed to be that while
> there were a few isolated instances of this "advice," in general, it
> wasn't an issue.  I'd like to find out if that's true.
>
> Our family doc and Janet's OB/GYN have been very supportive of our
> attempts to start a family.
>
> Kendall Corbett
>
> An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)
>
> The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
> persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
> progress depends on the unreasonable man.
> -George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
>
> Kendall Corbett
> Coordinator of Consumer Activities=20
> Wyoming INstitute for Disabilities - WIND
> College of Health Sciences
> University of Wyoming
> 1000 E. University Avenue, Dept. 4298
> Laramie, WY  82070
> (307) 766-2853
> [log in to unmask]
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]=20
> Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 6:48 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: new member intro and some well-meant comments...
>
> In a message dated 05/10/2005 16:10:07 Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Mike,
>
> Where are you, and how recently were you told by that  "doctor" that you
> should be sterilized?  My Mom did her nurses  training in the late 40's
> at a University where girls with disabilities  (but not boys) were
> routinely sterilized until the 60's.   Interestingly enough, my wife, as
> a kid, attended the Hospital School at  that same university during the
> summer until she was 12 or so for PT, OT,  and Speech because the little
> town she lived in didn't have those  services.
>
> Kendall Corbett
>
>
>
> This is what I was replying to.  I never had a case manager.  I  learned
> how
> to do everything on my own.