My sister, Joan, was born September 15, 1970. Our family took her in as a foster child in the summer of 1972 at approximately 21 months old. At that time, Joan had only one brother who was approximately one year older than her. Both David and Joan were originally in the custody of their grandparents, as the court had appointed their mother unfit at that time due to drug and alcohol abuse. Joan's foster care and adoption were handled by the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth Services located in Norristown, PA.
Although our family had wished to, we were unable to take in Joan's brother, David, as a foster child due to regulations of the Health and Human Services Department. David and Joan were very close. Joan was permitted supervised visits with her mother and brother accompanied by a social worker who would pick Joan up from our house to take on these visits. Visits with her brother, David, were discontinued at a later date, when the visits became too hard for him to handle emotionally. Joan continued visits with her mother until her mother agreed to allow us to adopt her. At that time, only Joan was put up for adoption, not David. David was not as lucky as Joan during foster care. He moved from foster home to foster home due to emotional disturbances stemming from being separated from family. We were informed later that Joan also has other younger brothers by her birth mother, but Joan has never met those brothers. They are also believed to have been adopted.
Our family adopted Joan on December 30, 1975 (our father's birthday). She has missed her brother, David, ever since and often speaks of him and her wish to see him again and to meet her younger brothers one day. I have created this web page in the hope that her brothers might see this page one day and contact her.
Below are pictures of Joan during her first years with us. I am placing them here in the hope that David may see them and recognize her.
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