As we all know, family comes in all forms – traditional and untraditional. At the end of the day, I believe a family filled with love and support is all that truly matters.
I’m often asked if people with disabilities are capable of parenting. I’m always baffled by this question. In my opinion, people with disabilities can do all things – including being parents. Unfortunately, I see several news stories that indicate people with disabilities are put through the ringer when trying to adopt a child.
Couple Kelly and Larry Peterson have known each other since the age of ten. Both live with spinal bifida and met at a camp for kids who share that disability. After dating briefly and going their separate ways, as fate would have it, they found their way back to each other and eventually married.
Like many couples, Kelly and Larry decided they wanted to expand their family through adoption. To their dismay, what the Petersons thought would be a straight-forward adoption process turned out to be extremely difficult because they both had disabilities. The Petersons were turned down several times before they found Special Angels, an agency that specializes in finding loving families for children with disabilities. After working with Special Angels, the couple was matched with a beautiful girl named Hadley who also had spinal bifida. Talk about a perfect match!
You can read more about this family here: Couple with Spina Bifida Adopts Girl with Same Disability: ‘So Much Love’
When I heard the Peterson’s story, I thought to myself, “Why can’t living life with a disability be simple?” 90% of the time, I feel positive about changes and opportunities I see for my community. But the other 10% leaves me shaking my head, especially when the world questions my and my peer’s abilities.
I want my friends in blog nation to know that parenting with disabilities is possible and does exist. Every family unit goes through trials, tribulations and successes, including those whose parents have a disability. I would like to see this family makeup normalized and accepted so more families can be created with love and acceptance.