FAMILY VIEWS ON STERILIZATION FOR THEIR MENTALLY-RETARDED CHILDREN

Eighty-eight parents of adolescents or adults with mental retardation answered written and/or telephone questionnaires concerning sterilizat ion and reproductive health choices for their children with mental ret ardation. The 36 parents whose children were still living at home were more concerned about the capacity for sexual activity in their disabl ed child than were the 52 parents whose children were living outside t he home. Otherwise, the two groups of parents were very Similar in the ir attitudes. The reasons for considering sterilization were parental fear of sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy and failure of birth control methods. Almost all the parents in this study wanted to participate in decisions concerning the sterilization of their disabled child.