[blparent] blparent Digest, Vol 132, Issue 19

Fri May 29 14:08:10 UTC 2015

Good morning all. Bernie here. My husband Bill Jacobs, and I brought David home from China nine years ago last March. David has been a true blessing to us. David is a thriving young boy who constantly jumps up and down. He is always so happy. He is blind and artistic. He and our daughter Virginia, from Thailand, are both students at the Maryland school for the blind both children are doing extremely well in their classes. Actually, it was far easier doing international adoptions then domestic adoptions. It is our experience that the social workers here in the United States have bigger hangups about blindness then do those from other countries. We had virtually no trouble at all dealing with either Thailand or China.

Sent from my iPhone

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>   1. Re: Can blind people adopt? (Star Gazer)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 28 May 2015 18:04:52 -0400
> From: "Star Gazer" <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com>
> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Can blind people adopt?
> Message-ID: <0ab101d09992$53cc5780$fb650680$@gmail.com>
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> 
>                Steve, can you explain? What would a
> differing definition of "blind person" mean in some other country? 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve
> Jacobson via blparent
> Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2015 11:50 AM
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List
> Cc: Steve Jacobson
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Can blind people adopt?
> 
> Alana,
> 
> The answer to your question as to whether blind people can adopt is "yes,"
> but of course it is not as simple as that.  To my knowledge, it is pretty
> rare that a country has an official position against blind people adopting,
> and even if that is the case, the definition of "blind" may not be what we
> commonly think of here.  Even if a country says it does not permit blind
> people to adopt, it may not mean that an adoption agency in this country
> might not be able to make it happen.  In recent years, some of the countries
> who have traditionally been sources of adoptions have tightened up their
> policies.  As I understand it, both Russia and China have tighter policies
> now than they did some time back, but not just regarding blind people but
> foreign adoptions in general.  
> 
> The larger issue is simply whether an adoption agency will consider allowing
> one to adopt as a blind person.  If one partner in a relationship has
> vision, it is usually easier, but blind couples can definitely adopt
> children.  One needs to be persistent and patient.  Not all of the questions
> that one is asked are intended to prevent one from adopting.  Social workers
> who work with adoption generally do not know how blind people carry out
> parenting and the most open social workers will ask many questions just to
> understand.  Certainly there is discrimination in adoption, but usually
> taking the time to fight such discrimination legally will mean you won't be
> able to adopt so most of us who have adopted children did not go that route.
> 
> There are many blind people who have adopted kids both from within the
> United States and from other foreign countries, and I believe a number of
> people on this list have adopted.  Both of my kids came from Korea some
> twenty years or more ago.  
> 
> I hope this addresses your question.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Steve Jacobson
> 
> 
>> On Sat, 23 May 2015 00:12:09 -0700, Alana Leonhardy via blparent wrote:
>> 
>> Hello. I'm curious which, if any, countries blind people can adopt children
> from? I know China doesn't allow it, although they do permit deaf people to
> do so.
> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
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> End of blparent Digest, Vol 132, Issue 19
> *****************************************