¶ Sexuality and Reproductive Health
Disabled people are sexual beings with the same rights to sexual health, pleasure, relationships, and reproductive choices as everyone else. Despite persistent myths that disabled people are asexual, childlike, or shouldn't reproduce, we have rich sexual and reproductive lives.
This page centers disabled people's expertise on navigating sexuality and reproductive health.
Myth: Disabled people aren't sexual or don't have sex.
Reality: Disabled people have diverse sexualities and sexual lives, just like non-disabled people.
Myth: Disabled people can't have satisfying sex.
Reality: Satisfying sex looks different for everyone. Disability may require creativity and adaptation, but doesn't preclude pleasure.
Myth: Disabled people shouldn't have children.
Reality: This is eugenics. Disabled people have the same reproductive rights as everyone else.
Myth: Dating a disabled person is charity or settling.
Reality: Disabled people are desirable partners. Relationships with disabled people are real relationships.
Myth: All disabled people need "special" sex education.
Reality: Everyone needs comprehensive sex education. Some disabled people may need accessible formats or specific information.
Disabled people often face barriers to sexual healthcare:
- Inaccessible exam rooms and equipment
- Providers who assume we're not sexually active
- Lack of knowledge about disability-specific needs
- Cervical and breast cancer screening missed
- STI testing not offered
- Contraception options not discussed
You have the right to:
- Sexual healthcare regardless of disability
- Accessible exam tables, equipment, and facilities
- Providers who take your sexual health seriously
- Privacy and confidentiality
- Make your own decisions about sexual health
- Ask about accessibility before appointments
- Request accessible exam tables
- Bring support person if desired
- Advocate for your needs
- Seek disability-competent providers
General sexual health applies to disabled people too:
- STI prevention and testing
- Contraception options
- Routine screenings (Pap smears, mammograms, prostate exams)
- Sexual function concerns
- Fertility awareness
¶ Sex and Disability
Sexual activity can be adapted to work with your body:
Positioning: Find positions that work for your body. Pillows, positioning aids, and furniture can help.
Timing: Work around fatigue, pain cycles, medication schedules.
Communication: Talk with partners about what works, what doesn't, and how to adapt.
Assistive devices: Some people use positioning aids, wedges, straps, or other adaptive equipment.
Pacing: Take breaks, go slow, stop when needed.
Spinal cord injury: May affect sensation, erection, lubrication, and orgasm. Many people with SCI have active sex lives with adaptation. Sex therapists and physiatrists can help.
Chronic pain: Plan around pain levels, use comfortable positions, communicate about pain during sex.
Fatigue conditions: Time sex for when energy is highest, take breaks, focus on connection rather than performance.
Limited mobility: Adapt positions, use aids, communicate about physical limitations.
Sensory disabilities: Different senses may be heightened; communicate about what works.
Cognitive disabilities: May need concrete information, consent education, support for decision-making.
Mental health: Medication may affect libido or function; communicate with partners and providers.
- Sex therapists with disability experience
- Sexuality and disability organizations
- Peer support from other disabled people
- Books and resources on disability and sexuality
¶ Reproductive Health and Rights
Disabled people have the right to:
- Make our own decisions about reproduction
- Access contraception
- Have children (or not)
- Parent our children
- Access fertility treatments
- Receive prenatal care
- Have accessible childbirth experiences
Disabled people have faced:
- Forced sterilization (still happening in some places)
- Coerced abortion
- Children removed by child welfare
- Denied fertility treatment
- Pressure not to reproduce
- "Unfit parent" assumptions
This history is eugenics, and it continues to affect disabled people today.
All contraception options are available to disabled people:
- Discuss with your provider what works for your body and disability
- Consider physical accessibility (can you insert/remove?)
- Consider interactions with medications
- Consider menstrual management if relevant
Disabled people get pregnant, carry pregnancies, and give birth:
- Find providers experienced with disability and pregnancy
- Discuss disability-specific considerations early
- Advocate for accessible prenatal care
- Plan for accessible labor and delivery
- Connect with other disabled parents
Disabled people parent successfully:
- Adaptive parenting equipment exists
- Support services may be available
- Disability doesn't determine parenting ability
- See "Parenting with a Disability" page for more
¶ Consent and Sexuality
All disabled people have the right to make their own sexual decisions:
- Consent to or refuse sexual activity
- Choose partners
- Decide about sexual boundaries
- Access sexual health services
Some people may benefit from support in understanding and making decisions about sexuality:
- Support should enhance autonomy, not replace it
- Guardianship doesn't eliminate sexual rights
- People with cognitive disabilities have sexual rights
- Sex education should be accessible to everyone
Everyone needs education about:
- What consent means
- How to give and receive consent
- Recognizing healthy vs. unhealthy relationships
- Reporting abuse
¶ Abuse and Sexuality
Disabled people face higher rates of sexual abuse. Resources on the Abuse, Safety, and Consent page.
LGBTQ+ disabled people navigate both ableism and homo/bi/transphobia. You belong in both communities.
- LGBTQ+ disability organizations
- Disability spaces that are LGBTQ+-affirming
- LGBTQ+ spaces that are accessible and disability-aware
- Online communities
Trans disabled people:
- May face additional barriers to gender-affirming care
- Accessibility of gender clinics varies
- Intersecting discrimination in healthcare
LGBTQ+ youth with disabilities:
- May need accessible LGBTQ+ resources
- May face isolation in multiple ways
- Deserve affirming support
Some disabled people are sex workers. They deserve:
- Safety and rights
- Healthcare without judgment
- Decriminalization advocacy
- Recognition of their agency and choices
Face:
- Higher rates of sexual violence
- Reproductive coercion
- Medical gaslighting about sexual health
- Assumptions about lack of sexuality
Experience:
- Racist and ableist barriers to reproductive healthcare
- Higher rates of reproductive coercion
- Medical racism affecting sexual health care
- Intersecting stereotypes
Need:
- Comprehensive, accessible sex education
- Protection from abuse
- Age-appropriate information about sexuality
- Recognition as developing sexual beings (like all youth)
- Planned Parenthood: Sexual health services (accessibility varies by location)
- Sexuality and Disability organizations: Various regional organizations
- Disability-focused sex educators: Search for professionals in your area
- NHS sexual health services: Available to all (accessibility varies)
- Outsiders Trust: Social and peer support network for disabled people around relationships and sexuality
- Enhance the UK: Disability and sexuality resources
- WHO guidance on disability and sexuality: Framework for rights-based approaches
¶ Sex Therapists and Counselors
Look for:
- Experience with disability
- Non-judgmental approach
- Understanding of disability-specific issues
- Accessibility of their practice
Connect with:
- Other disabled people with similar experiences
- Online communities discussing disability and sexuality
- Disability organizations that address sexuality
Seek:
- Providers who take disabled sexuality seriously
- Accessible facilities and equipment
- Willingness to discuss sexual health
- Knowledge of disability-specific considerations
Bring it up yourself. Say "I want to discuss my sexual health" or "I need STI testing." You may need to educate your provider that disabled people are sexually active.
You have the right to have children. Find supportive providers. Connect with other disabled parents. Know your rights if child welfare gets involved.
Talk to your doctor or a sex therapist with disability experience. Many issues can be addressed with adaptation, treatment, or equipment.
¶ "I'm LGBTQ+ and disabled and feel alone"
Seek out LGBTQ+ disability communities online or in person. Both identities are valid. You're not alone.
You deserve this information. Seek accessible sex education resources. Books, online resources, and disability organizations may help.
Do you have experience navigating sexuality and reproductive health as a disabled person? Have resources to share?
Share your knowledge: Contribution Form
We especially welcome:
- First-hand experiences
- Resources for specific disabilities
- Country-specific information
- Tips for finding affirming providers
This page centers disabled people's expertise on our own sexuality and reproductive lives. Disabled people are sexual beings with full reproductive rights.
Last updated: November 2025