Disability and reproductive anxiety in China: when the personal becomes political

Childbearing holds profound significance for human beings, yet the issue of reproductive anxiety among marginalized groups such as people with disabilities in China has received insufficient scholarly attention.

Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 19 individuals with disabilities, this study employed thematic analysis to examine the qualitative data.

The reproductive anxieties experienced by people with disabilities both overlap with and diverge from those of non-disabled individuals. Specifically, three types of anxieties emerged: health anxiety, discrimination anxiety, and capability anxiety. Health anxiety includes concerns about the potential risk of having a child with a disability, as well as childbirth-related fears among some disabled women. Discrimination anxiety encompasses fears of "associative stigma" stemming from their own disabled identity and worries about their children being disabled and subsequently subjected to discrimination. Capability anxiety involves concerns over one's own financial capacity, parenting ability, and the potential burden placed on their families. In the specific cultural and social context of China, we argue that the deeper roots of reproductive anxiety among people with disabilities lie in the widespread dominance of eugenic ideology, developmentalism, and Confucian thought in mainland China. To alleviate this anxiety, it is essential to: (1) mitigate the negative impact of eugenic thinking on people with disabilities; (2) strike a better balance between economic development and social justice; and (3) modernize Confucianism to align with contemporary values.

Reproductive anxiety among people with disabilities includes three aspects: health anxiety, discrimination anxiety, and ability anxiety. The deeper roots of reproductive anxiety among people with disabilities lie in the widespread dominance of eugenic ideology, developmentalism, and Confucian thought in mainland China.