BLIND parents Hareem and Jonesti have both had to overcome life-changing adversity on their journeys to parenthood. Both were victims of separate attacks before meeting each other - and both attacks left them completely blind. The couple told Truly: "We see complete darkness at all times - no shadows, no shapes, no blurs. The colour is black." When they met at a training centre for people with disabilities, it wasn't long before Hareem and Jonesti fell in love and "built a life together." Hareem already had his daughter, A'lonni, from a previous relationship - but when Jonesti fell pregnant last year, the couple were due to have their first baby together. Jonesti remembers the fear that came with finding out they were expecting: "[Hareem] didn't have any concerns about being a blind parent but I definitely did: 'What if we fail them as parents because we do have a disability?'" And the couple's friends and family had similar "concerns and doubts", with many of them asking Hareem and Jonesti: "How are you going to take care of this baby?" When baby Anthony was born, Jonesti admits that she found tasks like changing his diaper difficult, but the parents quickly adapted their own ways of doing things and now care for Anthony completely independently. As Hareem said: "It is different being blind, I can say that - but you just find a different way to do things." Still, the couple have faced backlash after posting online to show people how they care for their family as blind parents - Jonesti said: "We've had people ask us questions like, 'Are you sure you should be raising kids?' and, 'How do you know if the baby is safe?' We've also had people say that we're pretending [to be blind]." The parents are defiant in the face of the negativity, shrugging it off and instead choosing to focus on building a future for their family: "I'm not going to be comfortable with being blind until we can live how we want to live and be the parents that we want to be. So far it's turning out pretty good!"
