Hello.
It is an honour to appear before you today to talk about the inequality that we, as mothers of severely disabled and seriously ill children, experience as compared to other Canadian women.
We are women with degrees, we have a career, financial independence, plans and purchasing power, but life has thrown us a curve ball by giving us a child who is seriously ill and severely disabled.
This situation leads to the separation of over 85% of couples like us. That means that 85% of mothers are left to shoulder all these responsibilities alone. Our children require care that we could never have imagined providing, such as tube feeding, suction, tracheotomy care, and the administration of various medications.