Föräldraskap, utvecklingstörning och vuxenblivande

Abstract

This article discusses voluntary childlessness in Sweden, with focus on childfree women and men with intellectual disabilities (IDs). The article is based on interviews with 19 childfree individuals, four of whom had IDs. It focuses on motives for childfreeness. These motives are mainly consequences of their ascribed position as intellectually disabled and of the segregation in society between able and disabled individuals. The article also includes a discussion about how to achieve the “adult status”. The interviewees discussed alternative ways of expressing adult status. Many individuals see parenthood as a way into the adult world; however, achieving adult status through parenthood is an underdiscussed theme in the stories of the interviewees with IDs, who instead focused on other issues.