Defiant Birth

Todays society demands physical perfection from all and regards medical and scientific technologies as saviours to be embraced whatever the cost. To have a child who has been diagnosed with a disability is deemed not just unnecessary, but careless and even immoral. This book tells the courageous stories of women who continued their pregnancies despite intense pressure from doctors, family members and social expectations. These women were told they shouldnt have their babies because of a perceived imperfection in the child, or because their own disabilities do not fit within the parameters of what a mother should be. In the face of silent disapproval and open hostility, they have confronted the stigma of disability and had their children anyway. Some of the writers tell of grave misdiagnosis, others of life-changing experiences, discovering the joy and love in children considered unworthy of life.

"An invaluable book." --Nat Hentoff, columnist for United Media Newspaper Syndicate, the Village Voice and the Washington Times., "This well-documented and compelling account of the pressures faced by women expecting disabled children calls for every child to be welcomed and loved, and deserves to be heeded by a very wide readership." --Alison Davis, UK disability activist, author of From Where I Sit and founder of No Less Human.

Melinda Tankard Reist is an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls. She is best known for her work addressing sexualisation of girls, objectification of women, pornification of culture, sexual exploitation and trafficking and violence against women. Melinda is author/editor of five books with Spinifex Press. An opinion writer for a range of mainstream and online media (including ABC and SBS), Melinda is also a regular on morning television and has appeared on ABCs Q&A and The Gruen Sessions as well as many other TV and radio programs. Melinda is co-founder of the grassroots campaigning movement, Collective Shout: for a world free of exploitation, exposing corporations, advertisers and marketers who objectify women and sexualise girls to sell products and services. An ambassador for World Vision Australia, Compassion Australia and the Raise Foundation, Melinda is named in the Whos Who of Australian Women and the World Whos Who of Women.