MEMPHIS, Tennessee –
A Memphis adoption agency has rejected Peter and Margie Smith’s request to adopt a special needs child because they feel a Down syndrome couple is incapable of properly caring for a Down syndrome baby. 
Above: Peter and Margie Smith. Also pictured: The baby up for adoption
“I have a good job at McDonald’s making the fries,” the prospective father, Peter Smith, said. “Margie not smart enough for job so she can stay at home and take care of baby.”
Smith said they would be perfect parents because they have a unique insight into the extreme challenges of living with Down syndrome and would be equipped to help the baby better survive and cope than a non-mentally challenged person or couple.
“It’s like all the people with cancer adopting babies with cancer,” Smith said. “They have cancer and understand it and know how to take care of a cancer baby and help a cancer baby take care of itself. Or black people adopting black babies is better so they can show blacks kids how to deal with how hard it is to be black.”
The child was put up for adoption a few months after it was born because the parents could not deal with the child’s behavioral problems. In addition to having Down syndrome, the child suffers from schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder which requires a daily cocktail of medications and weekly psychiatric visits.
“I love soccer and want a child that’s really good at it,” the baby’s biological father said under the condition of anonymity. “A schizophrenic Downer kid won’t be any good at soccer. I don’t care who they give Dumbo to, I wouldn’t even care if they fed it to bears, so long as it’s out of my hair and somebody else’s problem.”
The Arc (formerly known as The Association for Retarded Citizens), an organization that supports people with intellectual and mental disabilities, said the adoption agency is discriminating against people with mental disabilities and the Smiths’ should absolutely be allowed to adopt just like any other couple.
The Memphis adoption agency refused comment.