"When I found I had given birth to a human wreckage, to a child that was an imbecile, my heart was broken"

This quote by Victoria Woodhull speaks to the distress of giving birth to a kid with an impairment. It conveys the deep grief and frustration she felt when she realized her kid was not the healthy, perfect infant she had actually expected. The phrase "human wreckage" indicates that the kid's disability was so serious that it was like a shipwreck, leaving her with a damaged heart. Woodhull's words demonstrate the emotional toll that having a handicapped child can take on a moms and dad, and the deep love and care that parents have for their kids, even when they are not what they had anticipated. Her words likewise show the absence of understanding and approval of disabilities in society at the time, and the stigma that was connected to them.