
Unfit Parent
A Disabled Mother Challenges an Inaccessible World
Jessica Slice(Author)
Beacon Press
Will be published approx. on 7. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
216 pages
978-0-8070-2276-4 (ISBN)
Description
"Beautiful and razor-sharp…cannot recommend highly enough."
—Ann Helen Petersen, Culture Study
"Cuts boldly and beautifully through that silence, inviting readers to imagine what our world might look like if we met every family where they are."
—Vogue
“A beautiful, transformative book about being a parent in a world that rejects frailty and weakness.”—Rachel Aviv, staff writer at the New Yorker
A paradigm shifting look at the landscape of disabled parenting—the joys, stigma, and discrimination—and how disability culture holds the key to transforming the way we all raise our kids
In Unfit Parent, Slice debunks the exclusionary myths that deem disabled people “unfit” to care for their children, instead showing how disabled parents and disability culture provide valuable lessons for rejecting societal rules that encourage perfectionism and lead to isolation.
Combining her personal experiences with interviews, research-backed evidence, and disability studies, Slice shares insight into what the landscape is like for disabled parents—one that is scattered with unpredictable obstacles and inaccessible barriers, including:
In overcoming these challenges, she describes how disabled parents are oftentimes more prepared to adapt to the demanding nature of parenthood, including the uncertainty of losing control over bodily autonomy.
Uplifting and powerful, Unfit Parent illuminates how disabled bodies and minds give us the hopeful perspectives and solutions we need for transforming a societal system that has left parents exhausted, stuck, and alone.
—Ann Helen Petersen, Culture Study
"Cuts boldly and beautifully through that silence, inviting readers to imagine what our world might look like if we met every family where they are."
—Vogue
“A beautiful, transformative book about being a parent in a world that rejects frailty and weakness.”—Rachel Aviv, staff writer at the New Yorker
A paradigm shifting look at the landscape of disabled parenting—the joys, stigma, and discrimination—and how disability culture holds the key to transforming the way we all raise our kids
In Unfit Parent, Slice debunks the exclusionary myths that deem disabled people “unfit” to care for their children, instead showing how disabled parents and disability culture provide valuable lessons for rejecting societal rules that encourage perfectionism and lead to isolation.
Combining her personal experiences with interviews, research-backed evidence, and disability studies, Slice shares insight into what the landscape is like for disabled parents—one that is scattered with unpredictable obstacles and inaccessible barriers, including:
- How do you find adaptive baby equipment?
- How do two disabled parents creatively keep their children safe?
- How do you get reproductive care when the medical system assumes you aren’t able to have kids?
- What is it like to be in public knowing that someone might call child protective services simply because a parent is disabled?
In overcoming these challenges, she describes how disabled parents are oftentimes more prepared to adapt to the demanding nature of parenthood, including the uncertainty of losing control over bodily autonomy.
Uplifting and powerful, Unfit Parent illuminates how disabled bodies and minds give us the hopeful perspectives and solutions we need for transforming a societal system that has left parents exhausted, stuck, and alone.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boston, MA
United States
Dimensions
Height: 220 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
285 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8070-2276-4 (9780807022764)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2025
Beacon Press
€18.49
Available for download
Person
Jessica Slice is a disabled mother, author, and essayist whose work has appeared in The New York Times’s Modern Love column, in Alice Wong’s bestselling Disability Visibility, The Washington Post, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan, among others. She is co-author, with Caroline Cupp, of Dateable: Swiping Right, Hooking Up, and Settling Down While Chronically Ill and Disabled and This is How We Play: A Celebration of Disability and Adaptation. Follow her online at jessicaslice.com.
Content
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Disability & Me (& You)
CHAPTER 2
We, Parents
CHAPTER 3
Deciding to Parent
CHAPTER 4
The First Week
CHAPTER 5
Parenting at Home
CHAPTER 6
In the World
CHAPTER 7
Medical Care
CHAPTER 8
Child Protective Services
CHAPTER 9
Ableism
EPILOGUE
March 2024
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
CHAPTER 1
Disability & Me (& You)
CHAPTER 2
We, Parents
CHAPTER 3
Deciding to Parent
CHAPTER 4
The First Week
CHAPTER 5
Parenting at Home
CHAPTER 6
In the World
CHAPTER 7
Medical Care
CHAPTER 8
Child Protective Services
CHAPTER 9
Ableism
EPILOGUE
March 2024
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index