Woman Who Left Husband And Baby With Down Syndrome Defends Herself

The woman who was accused of divorcing her husband and abandoning her newborn son with Down Syndrome is sharing her side of the story.

When I first wrote about this story last week, I have to admit, I was a bit cynical.  With all the hoaxes and pranks online, I have some serious trust issues with the internet. There was always a question in the back of mind, "what if this couple is making this up just to get a hand out?" Thankfully, I was wrong.

Last week, Samuel Forrest shared a heart breaking story about the day his son Leo was born. Forrest claimed that his wife gave him an ultimatum, it was her or their baby, who was born with Down Syndrome.  Forrest chose baby Leo.

Leo's mother, Ruzan Badalyan, has come forward and is sharing her side of the story; saying she gave Forrest no such ultimatum but chose to make the painful decision to give her son a better life in New Zealand, where Forrest is originally from. In Armenia, there's no social infrastructure to help kids with disabilities and there's no government support.

Badalyan says:

"As a mother who has faced this severe situation, being in the hospital under stress and depression, experiencing enormous pressure from every side, not finding any support from my husband’s part on any possibilities of giving a child decent life in Armenia, I faced two options: to take care of the child on my own in Armenia, or to abandon my maternal instincts and extend the baby an opportunity to enjoy a decent life with his father in New Zealand. I went for the second option."

By now, you might be asking the same thing that most people would ask;  why not stay married and go to New Zealand and raise the baby together? Badalyan never really gives us an answer but at the moment, she has no plans to move.