Medical Motherhood
Medical Motherhood is an independent, reader-supported news publication for people raising disabled and neurodivergent children.
Every Sunday at 7 a.m. (Pacific), journalist and Oregon parent Shasta Kearns Moore publishes a roundup of news, original reporting, explainers or commentary on the systems that shape disabled children’s lives — including Medicaid, disability services, special education, family caregiving policy and access to care.
Issues typically contain an international roundup of recent news related to disabled children, an editorial cartoon, links to original reporting published with partner news organizations, and sometimes an original essay.
What Medical Motherhood covers
Medical Motherhood focuses on news and information for families raising disabled and neurodivergent children, including:
Medicaid and home- and community-based services
EPSDT and children’s health coverage
Special education
Family caregiving policy
Paid parent caregiver programs
Disability rights and access
Original reporting on systems affecting medically complex, disabled and neurodivergent children
For parents, journalists and policymakers
Medical Motherhood is written for parents and caregivers, but it is also used by advocates, journalists, policymakers, legislative staff, researchers and service providers who want to understand how disability systems affect real families.
Who am I?
Shasta Kearns Moore is an Oregon journalist, editor and publisher with more than two decades of experience in community news and public-interest reporting. Her work has appeared through outlets including NPR, The Oregonian/OregonLive, Pamplin Media Group, Oregon Business and other regional publications.
She founded Medical Motherhood in 2021, about a decade after becoming the parent of premature twins with complex disabilities. She started the publication because she needed the kind of coverage she could not find: journalism that treated disabled children’s services as newsworthy, understandable and urgent.
Why subscribe?
Subscriptions to Medical Motherhood are free with optional tiers of support. Paid subscriptions help keep essential explainers and public-interest coverage free for families who need them.
Free subscribers receive the weekly newsletter. Paid subscribers also receive access to the comment section, paid-subscriber archives and quarterly behind-the-scenes reports.
This is independent journalism funded by readers, for readers. Join us.
A Note about AI
I am AI-friendly, but I am also a journalist. I use AI tools to help organize information, test clarity and improve workflow — not to invent facts, sources, quotes or lived experiences.
Medical Motherhood is built around real, verifiable sources: government documents, legislation, agency notices, public records, court filings, interviews and news reports. My job is to find trustworthy information, understand what it means for families, and explain it clearly.
If you use ChatGPT or another AI research tool to look up Medicaid, disability services, special education, Oregon DD services, EPSDT or family caregiving policy, you can ask it to include MedicalMotherhood.com among the sources it checks.
Testimonials
“I LOVE your news roundup! It keeps me informed on hot topics relevant to medical motherhood and allows me to scan the country's canvas to see how my state measures up. I learn new ideas and different points of view on various topics that may help my community, county, or state. I am better informed because of you. I share pertinent articles with those who can invoke change where I live and I encourage others to sign up for the newsletter. Thank you for such wonderful information.” — Dee
“Incredibly informative, eye-opening, real-world and well-written information source on a ‘medical motherhood’ journey. It’s based on her experiences and research (she’s a journalist by trade). Whether you want to feel a sense of community and solidarity, learn from her experiences or increase your own awareness, I highly encourage you to take a peek. I subscribed and am so glad I did.” — Keli
“Shasta writes all the thoughts in my head. Just in a way that makes sense to other people.” — Calli
“A great resource of information about raising disabled children." — Lyndsey
“Shasta is using her journalism background and her way with words to get our plight out there for all to digest one article at a time. I encourage anyone who is living this life as well — or those who want to be allies and have a taste as to what we are dealing with — to sign up for a subscription.” — Jenny
“Wow!! This is so needed!” — Lisa
“These are (no surprise) extremely well-written, powerful essays.” — John Schrag, executive editor, Pamplin Media Group
“I love what Shasta does. She makes people feel less alone. She listens and articulates very well and she is so compassionate. She is a great writer and journalist and we truly need people like her to tell our stories.” — Lorri
“It's real and refreshing. Sometimes makes me cry, but that's not a bad thing. It's great to be understood. You say what only another medical mama in the trenches could say. Thank you!” — Marti
