Concerns Expressed By Ohio Parents, Part 1

Adoptive Ohio family claims agency blocking effort to reunite brothers
Hoffman, Anna. NBC4. Dec. 10, 2025.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A family is claiming discrimination by an Ohio agency after they were denied the opportunity to reunite biological brothers, one of whom is with a different foster family.

The family is Muslim, and they think that may be why they’ve not been able to move forward with the adoption of their adopted son’s biological brother. They say this has been devastating, and everything they are doing now is with the intention of their son knowing his biological family.

“All I can think about are my son’s losses, that’s all I can think about,” Khaula Zafar said.

Zafar and her husband, Faraan Qureshi, are licensed foster parents. They said they have taken in children of all ages and backgrounds.

Zafar and Qureshi’s son is now five years old. He was their foster child, and they adopted him when he was two, around the same time they learned through social media that he may have a biological brother.

“Our journey has very much been about reunification and family preservation,” Zafar said.

Ohio law says, “Agencies and courts need to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together or allow visitation.”

Zafar said that after repeated attempts to contact Franklin County Children’s Services about the brother, they eventually found out the brother was in the system, but with another family.

“We’re like, ‘OK, something happened,’” Zafar said. “Clearly, there were mistakes made.”

She said that at this time last year, FCCS contacted them and said it would be best to keep the siblings together. However, two hours later, she said they walked that back.

“The only reason given to us is that they are not required to keep the siblings together by law and that in their opinion, because our son is adopted, these children are not legally siblings and we are not kinship, and that was the decision the FCCS has stood by and the reasoning that they stood by for months,” Zafar said.

The family said they then tried to set up visits for the siblings. However, they said FCCS gave all power to the foster family rather than facilitating the visits themselves

“It’s our son’s biological brother that he is getting denied any connection with, right? Because we’re not getting any support from the organization,” Qureshi said.

They said there were red flags at the few meet-ups they were allowed to have, such as having counsel there to supervise. The family said they also found social media posts they said were alarming from the child’s foster family.

“The other problem is that these foster parents of this child is with have been very, very vocal about their intention, how they’re motivated by their faith, their Catholicism, their Christianity, their take in children, and to, to guide them, in a sense,” Qureshi said.

Zafar and Qureshi said the foster family became more and more difficult to get a hold of, canceling set-up visit times and, eventually, severing contact with Zafar and Qureshi.

Then, on Nov. 11, they received an email saying they were not chosen as a match for their son’s brother.

“We have a situation where a decision has been made that has clearly not been guided by the best interests of a child, where laws have not been followed in the ways that they should have been, and serious well-being concerns have not been taken into consideration,” Zafar said.

Three weeks later, FCCS sent them an email saying, “This decision was not made lightly,” and went on to list several key factors they based their decision on, which include the child being in the current foster home since birth and the current foster parent expressing interest to adopt.

Zafar and Qureshi believe both their son and his brother have Muslim ties.

“What is evident from something as simple as his name is that he has ties to a cultural community that is predominantly Muslim,” Zafar said. “I cannot say parents follow x-y-z religion, right, but based on what is evident, it is clear he has ties to the Muslim community.”

They said that based on their standing as foster parents and what is said in Ohio law, the only answer they can come up with for why their request was denied is due to discrimination.

“It’s hard to feel otherwise,” Qureshi said. “I don’t see. It’s like she said earlier, it’s either specifically our background or there’s a systemic issue or they’re just targeting anyone that’s not the standard. I don’t know.”

Franklin County Children’s Services said in a statement:

“The adoption team at Franklin County Children Services continues to monitor and review this case, prioritizing the best interests of this young boy and the permanent support, safety, and sense of belonging that can come when a child in the foster care system can be placed with a ‘forever family.’ We always strive to find placement opportunities where children can maintain a safe connection to the culture, background, and extended family. Ultimately, the courts will be asked to make the final determination.”

“It’s been so difficult, like, really, it’s this whole past year has taken a toll on us,” Zafar said.

The family hopes that by speaking out, they will be able to find legal help. They are concerned about a deadline to appeal and running out of time.