Echoes of Desires: Exploring Marital and Parental Aspirations of PwDs in Kashmir, India

In South Asian societies like Kashmir, marriage and parenthood are key markers of adulthood and social fulfilment. However, persons with disabilities (PwDs) often face exclusion through stereotypes of asexuality or hypersexuality, marginalising their relational and reproductive desires. This study explores how PwDs in Kashmir experience marriage and procreation, considering disability, gender, family roles and cultural norms. Using a descriptive phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews with fifteen participants (twelve PwDs and three family members, whose accounts were used to contextualise family decision-making) were analysed using Colaizzi’s (1978 , Existential-phenomenological Alternatives for Psychology, 48–71) seven-step method. Results show that perceptions of marriage among PwDs are influenced by disability type, gender, age, economic status and cultural conditioning, with gender intensifying family control and social scrutiny, especially for women. Families both support and restrict marriage, while post-marital challenges include spousal inequality, caregiving burdens and patriarchal norms that disproportionately affect disabled women. Despite stigma and fears about heredity, participants who spoke about parenthood continued to express a desire for children. These context-specific findings from an urban setting point to the need for inclusive discourses and supportive systems that respect PwDs’ relational and reproductive rights.