Sydney Anne Bennett, who goes by the name ‘The Annie Girl’ on social media, lives with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), which affects how her brain communicates with her central nervous system. She recently spoke out against the attacks she has faced for her decision to have a child.
On her website, Bennett explained, “I went from completely healthy to using a wheelchair most of the time in less than one year. It has been a long road of trusting in the Lord to get this far, but He is faithful. I hope I can encourage you here and give you more confidence, joy, and hope in your chronic illness or with your mobility aid. Your life isn’t over when you become disabled. I am living proof of that.”
On her Instagram account, Bennett shared that since having a baby, she has received discriminatory comments. “It’s 2024 and people are still not ready for a disabled woman to have a baby,” she wrote. She then shared a sampling of the horrific comments she has received.
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“Have you tried protection?” asked one person.
“Not everyone has to have the right to have a child,” said another.
“Why would somebody in a wheelchair ‘make’ a disabled baby?” said a third.
The harsh, ignorant comments continued with:
- “Did the baby come out w a wheelchair too?”
- “Just why. Just imagine no disabled only abled.”
- “If she really cared she would have adopted a child in need. But nope she has to prove to everyone she’s not a broken human nope she has prove she can be a mom to !!! … Disability Pregnancy PEAK narcissism.”
- “Breed week stock get weak stock facts are facts”
- “How dare you allow disabled to pass it onto a kid. you are sickeningly naive.”
- “It’s just common sense. it is stupid honestly a form of abuse to bear children with chronic disability when you knew fully well they would also inherit it.”
- “Poor baby”
- “But why would you reproduce, knowing your condition?”
- “This is wrong on so many level…”
- “Worst childhood. That poor baby is in for a hellish life.”
- “Honestly, disabled people shouldn’t be having kids.”
- “Why make more disabled people”
- “Humans are just selfish”
In response to these comments, Bennett wrote, “Some corrections to the things assumed here: My illness is not hereditary. My baby is not disabled. My disability is not passed on genetically. BUT ******It must be said*********I know MANY amazing parents with disabilities that have a possibility of being passed on. Some of their children share their disability and some don’t. They’re all amazing parents with wonderful children who have full and beautiful lives and who they love very much.”
She added that she and her husband “wanted to have a baby,” and that their daughter is “happy, deeply loved, and loves her life (and her mama’s wheelchair).” She noted that her husband loves and cares for both of them, and that she is “more than capable of caring for my daughter alone while he is at work.”
As previously reported by Live Action News, a recent report found that 31 states, plus Washington, D.C., still have laws allowing for the forced sterilization of people with disabilities.
“Forced sterilization laws are not an aberration – they are part of a larger, horrifying system that prevents disabled people from making basic decisions about their lives, their families, and their futures,” Ma’ayan Anafi, the author of the report, said in a statement. “These laws are part of a long history of state-sanctioned sterilizations and are rooted in false, paternalistic assumptions about disabled people. No judge, guardian, or politician should have the right to take away anyone’s fundamental right to decide whether to have children. It’s long overdue to fully transform this ruthless system.”
Individuals with disabilities still face discrimination and eugenic tactics, both inside and outside of the womb. Innocent preborn babies are targeted for death by abortion after receiving a prenatal diagnosis, because elite and able-bodied individuals wrongly believe these children are better off dead than living with a health condition or disability. However, if allowed to live, not diagnosed until after birth, or diagnosed later in life, people with health conditions and disabilities are often discriminated against in their efforts to live their lives and have families of their own, proving that our so-called “tolerant” society still has a long way to go in accepting people who are different.
