Who we're looking for
The Many Facesof Motherhood
Capital M is building an archive as wide as the District itself. These are the perspectives we hope to feature — 73 of them, and counting. This is an invitation, not a checklist. If you don't see yourself here, tell us anyway.
Beginnings & Paths to Motherhood
Every route into mothering, chosen and unchosen.
First-time mothers
Navigating pregnancy, birth, and identity for the first time.
Experienced mothers
Reflecting on raising children across different life stages.
Expectant mothers
Capturing hopes and questions before birth.
Adoptive mothers
Building families through adoption and chosen connection.
Foster mothers
Offering temporary but transformative care.
Surrogate mothers
Exploring motherhood through pregnancy and reproductive care.
Intended mothers (IVF, surrogacy journeys)
Navigating fertility, hope, and alternative paths to parenthood.
Mothers experiencing infertility
Honoring journeys that include loss, waiting, and resilience.
Family Structure
Who mothers, and how families are built and held together.
Single mothers
Managing parenting, work, and household leadership independently.
Co-parenting mothers
Navigating shared parenting after separation or divorce.
Stepmothers
Building families through blended relationships.
Bonus moms
Celebrating caregiving beyond biology.
Grandmothers raising grandchildren
Carrying the responsibilities of parenting across generations.
Kinship caregivers (aunts, cousins, older siblings)
Expanding the definition of who mothers and raises children.
Mothers of multiples
Raising twins, triplets, or larger sibling groups.
Mothers living in multigenerational households
Exploring shared caregiving and family traditions.
Military and veteran mothers
Balancing family with military service and deployment.
Active-duty military spouses
Raising families during frequent moves and deployments.
Loss & Resilience
Motherhood that endures through grief.
Widowed mothers
Parenting through grief and loss.
Mothers after pregnancy loss
Recognizing babies remembered and grief carried.
Rainbow baby mothers
Parenting after miscarriage or infant loss.
Mothers who have lost a child
Honoring enduring motherhood through grief.
NICU mothers
Experiencing early parenthood inside neonatal intensive care units.
Health, Disability & Neurodivergence
Caregiving, advocacy, and access.
Mothers of medically complex children
Coordinating ongoing healthcare and advocacy.
Mothers of children with disabilities
Becoming lifelong caregivers, advocates, and navigators.
Mothers with disabilities
Parenting while navigating accessibility and inclusion.
Neurodivergent mothers
Parenting through unique ways of experiencing the world.
Mothers of neurodivergent children
Advocating across education, healthcare, and daily life.
Caregiver mothers
Caring simultaneously for children and aging relatives (“sandwich generation”).
Mothers caring for aging parents
Balancing multiple caregiving roles simultaneously.
Mothers caring for adult children with disabilities
Continuing caregiving throughout adulthood.
Identity & Culture
Language, migration, faith, and gender across generations.
LGBTQIA+ mothers
Building families across diverse identities and pathways.
Trans mothers
Expanding conversations around gender and parenthood.
Queer mothers
Sharing experiences often absent from maternal narratives.
Mothers of LGBTQIA+ children
Supporting children navigating identity.
Immigrant mothers
Raising families while navigating new cultures and systems.
Refugee or asylum-seeking mothers
Parenting amid displacement and rebuilding.
International mothers
Parenting across borders and cultures.
Bilingual or multilingual mothers
Passing language, culture, and identity between generations.
Place & DC Roots
Neighborhood memory, change, and citywide representation.
Native Washingtonian mothers
Preserving neighborhood memory across generations of change.
New-to-DC mothers
Building community in an unfamiliar city.
Mothers from every DC ward
Ensuring citywide representation and place-based experiences.
Mothers living east of the Anacostia River
Highlighting neighborhood strengths and inequities.
Mothers from historically Black neighborhoods
Preserving neighborhood history amid change.
Mothers experiencing gentrification
Documenting how changing neighborhoods affect parenting.
Mothers experiencing homelessness
Parenting while navigating housing instability.
Mothers who experienced housing insecurity
Demonstrating resilience despite economic hardship.
Justice & Recovery
Families rebuilding, healing, and holding on.
Returning citizen mothers
Rebuilding families after incarceration.
Mothers of incarcerated children
Living with the emotional realities of family separation.
Mothers with incarcerated partners
Parenting while supporting loved ones in the justice system.
Mothers in recovery
Parenting through addiction recovery and healing.
Mothers supporting loved ones with addiction
Carrying invisible caregiving burdens.
Work & Vocation
The labor of motherhood, paid and unpaid.
Working mothers
Balancing careers and caregiving responsibilities.
Stay-at-home mothers
Centering unpaid labor and family management.
Entrepreneur mothers
Building businesses while raising children.
Small business owner mothers
Navigating entrepreneurship and caregiving.
Shift workers and essential workers
Parenting around demanding schedules.
Healthcare worker mothers
Caring professionally while caregiving at home.
Educator mothers
Raising families while educating others.
Artist mothers
Balancing creativity, identity, and family life.
Faith leaders and clergy mothers
Integrating spiritual leadership with motherhood.
Community organizer mothers
Building stronger neighborhoods while raising children.
Elected officials and civic leaders
Shaping policy while navigating motherhood.
Stage of Life & Schooling
Motherhood measured in decades, not moments.
Teen mothers
Beginning motherhood while still growing into adulthood.
Young mothers under 25
Sharing early parenting experiences.
Young adult mothers
Building careers and families simultaneously.
Mothers over 40
Experiencing later-in-life motherhood.
Empty nest mothers
Reflecting on motherhood after children leave home.
Mothers with adult children
Reflecting on motherhood across decades.
Mothers of adult children
Reflecting on lifelong motherhood.
Mothers who homeschool
Creating educational communities at home.
Mothers whose children attend DC public schools
Navigating public education systems.
Mothers whose children attend charter schools
Offering another perspective on education choices.
Intersectional themes
Lenses, not categories.
These aren't standalone identities. They're the dimensions that cut across every story and give the archive its depth.
Geography
- •All eight wards
- •Neighborhood
- •Where they grew up
- •Where they gave birth
- •Birth hospital
- •Housing type
- •Length of time in DC
Family Structure
- •Number of children
- •Ages of children
- •Biological, adopted, foster, blended
- •Multigenerational household
Pregnancy & Birth Experience
- •Vaginal birth
- •Cesarean birth
- •Home birth
- •Birth center
- •Midwife
- •Doula
- •High-risk pregnancy
- •IVF
- •Pregnancy loss
- •NICU experience
- •Premature birth
Caregiving
- •Caring for elders
- •Caring for disabled family members
- •Primary caregiver
- •Shared caregiver
- •Long-distance caregiver
Health
- •Chronic illness
- •Mental health
- •Maternal mental health
- •Disability
- •Breastfeeding
- •Formula feeding
- •Postpartum recovery
- •Parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic
Work & Worth
- •Occupation
- •Industry
- •Shift work
- •Remote work
- •Self-employed
- •Entrepreneur
- •Unemployed
- •Student
- •Retired
Culture
- •Race and ethnicity
- •Language
- •Religion or faith tradition
- •Country of origin
- •Military family
- •Tribal affiliation (where applicable)
Civic Life
- •Volunteer
- •PTA leader
- •Community organizer
- •Business owner
- •Artist
- •Public servant
- •Healthcare worker
- •Educator
Legacy
- •Family traditions
- •Recipes
- •Heirlooms
- •Neighborhood history
- •Advice passed through generations
- •Lessons learned
- •What they hope their children remember