Despite the fact that women with intellectual disability can acquire social, sexual skills, it is historically not accepted that they can marry and give birth. Furthermore, these women have not been recognized with the academic interest although they have built their own maternal experience. While paying attention to these facts, this study tries to examine two types of their maternal instincts, which have been overlooked : one that regards them as the mothers taking care of and nurturing children and the other one that these women regard in their life as mother, not just in a biological perspective. Therefore, this study tries to focus on how these women with intellectual disability consider the maternal instinct. It approaches this issue as one of the universal, existential issues without a special view on the minority in this society.
To capture the maternal instincts of women with intellectual disability, participant observation and lifetime narrative interview had been conducted with three intellectually disabled moms from June, 2016 to June 2016. Also, to verify the data, the interviews with their acquaintances were attempted. Through this research, the ways that women with intellectual disability recognize the maternal instinct are found. First, after the pregnancy and the delivery, they have been changed from the ones that should be concerned to the ones that participate in their lives. Secondly, after the delivery and the nurture, these women have experienced the existential fellowship without tension. Lastly, while they face the reality of the delivery and the nurture, they have an opportunity to develop their maternal instinct. In conclusion, the maternal instinct of the intellectually disabled mothers was not confined in the conventional idea that their personal skills are insufficient. These women own their ordinary maternal life by constantly building their identity through the incessant interaction with their children.