00:00We are not selfish for having a baby as a blind parent.
00:04We were both victims of attacks that left us completely blind.
00:08We cannot see anything.
00:11When we fell pregnant, people doubted that we would be able to look after our baby.
00:15Friends and family expressed concerns and doubts.
00:19We've had questions like, are you sure you should be raising kids?
00:23How do you know if the baby is safe?
00:24He didn't have any doubts or concerns about being a blind parent, but I definitely did.
00:30What if we're not good enough for them?
00:32What if we fail them as parents because we do have a disability?
00:35When you found out honestly was pregnant, did you have any concerns about how she and Irene would be able to care for a baby?
00:42So we're just going to grab this one and we're going to do this one.
00:46I don't know if it's Mickey Mouse or Simba, but we're going to go with it.
00:49We don't know what matches with what, so we put the socks, a bib, and then the outfit on the safety pin.
00:56That way, you can keep up with it.
00:58Me and my husband are both completely blind.
01:01We see complete darkness at all times.
01:05No shadows, no shapes, no blurs.
01:09The color is black.
01:11We both lost our sight in young adulthood.
01:14Two days before my 19th birthday, I was attacked.
01:19Instead of my life, he took my sight.
01:22I became blind six weeks before my 21st birthday.
01:26I was physically assaulted and it resulted in total blindness.
01:30When I met him, I hadn't even been blind a year.
01:33We met each other at the place where individuals with disabilities go to get training.
01:39And he was just showing me how to deal with that and how to process it.
01:44And I think that's kind of what made me fall in love with him.
01:47We just built our life together.
01:49This is our son, Anthony.
01:51He's four months old.
01:53Say hi.
01:54Say hello.
01:55He's laughing.
01:56I'm a big boy.
01:58When you were you a pregnant, what were your emotions?
02:01Oh, I was terrified.
02:03A fear of the unknown.
02:04It was like, what did I do?
02:07You ready, buddy?
02:08You ready to get a drink?
02:11He didn't have any doubts or concerns about being a blonde parent, but I definitely did.
02:15What if we're not good enough for them?
02:17What if we fail them as parents because we do have a disability?
02:22Hold on, hold on.
02:24Feel the diaper.
02:25See how low that is on that booty?
02:27That ain't that low for real.
02:29In the back?
02:29But it is a low, but it ain't that low.
02:32When Anthony was born, I think I found the most difficulty with the diapers.
02:38We never truly know if he's clean.
02:41So I'm just going to wipe until I can't wipe anymore.
02:43And that's how we do it.
02:45It is different being blind.
02:46I can say that.
02:48But you just find a different way to do things.
02:52Good.
02:52Okay, there we go.
02:54Photo just came in.
02:56Okay.
02:56So this one is a, it says ultra thin oven roasted turkey breast, but that it's also honey ham.
03:05So it'll be two individually wrapped pouches.
03:07So we both have that app.
03:08They do like the descriptions of foods.
03:12They can let us know if something is cooking, if it's done or not.
03:16But they can even like describe the room for us.
03:19There's a lot they can do.
03:20But we use that pretty often.
03:22This is pretty girl, Alani, my oldest.
03:27We are currently in here making her some sandwiches.
03:31Alani is my firstborn.
03:33And she's my daughter.
03:36Is your dad a good cook?
03:37And what's your favorite thing that he makes?
03:39Yes, he is a great cook.
03:41And my favorite thing that he makes is his famous hamburgers.
03:47Is there anything you like to help your dad in honesty because he can't see?
03:50When my stepmom needs help with picking my baby brother's clothes out, I always help her.
03:58With my dad, I help him when he's cooking.
04:01Yesterday when we cooked breakfast, we needed help with the eggs to make sure no shells were in there.
04:09When Anthony was born, did friends or family express any concerns or doubts?
04:13Friends and family express concerns and doubts.
04:17How are you going to raise a baby?
04:18How are you going to take care of this baby?
04:20And I'm like, the same way that anybody else does it, you know?
04:25I'm just like, I didn't know how to even respond to the question.
04:29Hey, sugar mama.
04:30Hey, mommy.
04:31How are you doing?
04:34Good.
04:35That's been a challenge for me.
04:36It's like doing what's best for me and Harim and the baby.
04:41And then trying to take into consideration the opinions of, you know, family members.
04:48What's up, son?
04:50How you doing?
04:51I'm good.
04:52Where that big old boy?
04:53Look at him.
04:54Hey, big boy.
04:59Yeah, he getting huge.
05:00When you found out that Honesty was pregnant, did you have any concerns about how she and
05:04Harim would be able to care for her baby?
05:05The biggest concern was how can they take care of him if they can't lose?
05:11I remember I was like around the corner every five seconds I would hear the baby.
05:16Now, it's like I hear her, Honesty got it.
05:19I speak like a baby.
05:21Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, she got it.
05:23Those people that I know, that I'm close to, that have doubted, I put her in front of them
05:30and just, and they're in awe.
05:32Once they see her change the diaper, nursing the baby, and their worries are put to rest,
05:37so they're not worried anymore.
05:41What are some challenges you've experienced being blind parents?
05:44People judging our parenting skills.
05:47A lot of crazy comments, like some stuff you would never think you would hear people say.
05:52We've had questions like, are you sure you should be raising kids?
05:56And how do you know if the baby is safe?
05:58We also had people say that we were pretending.
06:01I was like, I wish I was making this up.
06:03I think a lot of people are like in awe, like shocked to see that we are doing it.
06:10Don't be too quick to judge a book by the cover and you never read a page of it.
06:15How does it make you feel when people judge for even honesty?
06:18In the beginning, I think it was probably a little frustration.
06:24Them not knowing them.
06:26Get to know what they can do and, you know, how they do it.
06:30Because there's a method to the madness.
06:32They have a system in place and they do it very well.
06:34I got tired of people saying that we can't do this, we can't do this, or just people thinking
06:41that we're lying.
06:43I just decided to just bring people into our life, show them how we're living, and really
06:48show people that we're really limitless, like nothing can stop us.
06:52Welcome back.
06:54I was talking with my older sister and her boyfriend, and they were like, yeah, we think
07:02that would be good for you guys to just do more videos, because people have to see it
07:06to believe this sometimes.
07:06Anybody that's, you know, trying to do better, that may think they can't do something, we're
07:13here to tell y'all that you can.
07:15And we've been through some of the worst, but we continue to hold our head high, and we're
07:21doing whatever we got to do to take care of our family.
07:24They inspire me a whole lot, because when I look at what they're doing, and all the accomplishments
07:31that they done made, I ain't like, I don't make no excuses, because I say if they can do
07:36it, I know I can do it.
07:41Um, Goldfish.
07:42What do you hope the future holds for your family?
07:45We hope that the future holds, um, just more blisses.
07:49You took the words right out of my mouth.
07:53I pray that we continue to take care of our family, the best way we know how.
07:58One more shape, you still do it!
08:00I would love to have more kids.
08:02Before I went blind, I used to want like a starting five, or like a baseball team.
08:07But now, I think we'll settle for maybe, what, one or two more women.
08:12I can't speak for everyone, but I know my kids inspire me to want something out of life.
08:19I'm not going to be comfortable with being blind until we can live how we want to live,
08:25and be the parents that we want to be.
08:26So far, it's turning out pretty good.
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