Photo exhibition "Motherhood and Disability"

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The photo exhibition Motherhood and Disability was conceived by the Lithuanian Disability Forum (LDF) in 2024, with the aim of telling the stories of mothers with various disabilities. Photographer and visual storyteller Rytis Ilionis met with seven mothers in different cities and towns across Lithuania.

By sharing moments from the everyday lives of mothers with disabilities, the LDF hoped to show the diversity of experiences of motherhood.

The individual stories were an invitation to get to know mothers with different disabilities and the barriers they face in everyday life in raising children. Motherhood is not an easy path for anyone, but when you also have a disability you have to be prepared for greater challenges. Some challenges may arise from the disability itself – it is difficult to carry a child, to see where it is going, to hear if it is crying, to lift it onto a slide in the playground and to hold its hand. Other obstacles that can cause a lot of pain relate to the judgmental gaze of those around us – can a mother who needs help herself raise a child? And if she does raise a child, is she a good enough mother?

From the outset, neither the initiators nor the creators sought to portray mothers as heroes or to tell their stories in order to elicit sympathy or pity from those around them. We wanted to show the situations that mothers with disabilities face in their daily lives and the ways in which they are solved or attempted to be solved, and that the need for help, which is common to all mothers, is not an obstacle to loving and caring for your children. The mothers who shared their experiences did it not just for themselves, but rather for future mothers and women who are considering becoming mothers.

We hope that the words of these strong mothers will challenge preconceptions and stereotypes, as well as draw attention to the urgent decisions that various institutions have postponed, which are needed by mothers with disabilities and their children throughout Lithuania and Europe.

First, photo stories were published in social media, and then a physical exhibition was mounted in the Presidential Palace in Vilnius. The text was then translated into English and the exhibition presented at the United Nations headquarters in New York during the 18th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2025. Among other things, the exhibition provided a space to discuss and advocate for the social policy and support services needed for women with disabilities raising children.

More information on the exhibition is available here: https://www.15min.lt/media-pasakojimai/kai-pagalbos-poreikis-nekliudo-myleti-ir-rupintis-fotopasakojimo-ciklas-motinyste-ir-negalia-2054

Dovilė JUODKAITĖ (Lithuania)
Member, Civil Society Organisations’ Group
International Cooperation Officer, Lithuanian Disability Forum

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