A drug scandal changed regulation and helped shape disability activism.
The harm did not end at birth. It continued in how survivors were treated.
Thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women for morning sickness and caused severe limb differences in thousands of children worldwide.
The scandal led to stronger drug regulation, but survivors and families had to fight for recognition, support and compensation.
The medical harm was only part of the story. The social response also mattered: low expectations, institutionalisation, pity, exclusion and long legal battles.
Some survivors became powerful disability rights voices because they experienced both medical failure and social failure.
This history shows that disability is not only impairment. It is also how society responds.
A body can be different. The real question is whether the world adapts with dignity or punishes difference.