Abstract
In the early 1960s children were born with birth defects as a result of expectant mothers taking prescription drug thalidomide during pregnancy. This article examines the activities of the Society for the Aid of Thalidomide Children the media scrutiny of the thalidomide scandal, and the dedicated House of Commons debate of 1972 to provide new insight into the relationship between the family, normality, and disability in 1960s and 1970s Britain. The thalidomide tragedy was pivotal in the establishment of the Family Fund in 1973, which was, significantly, made available to the families of all severely congenitally-handicapped children. I argue that the thalidomide case was instrumental in raising awareness of the role of families in the care of disabled children. Thalidomide triggered debates on, research of, and interest in families with handicapped children before the role of the family carer had itself been formally acknowledged.
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