When a New Zealand man living in Armenia discovered that his newborn son Leo had Down syndrome, he was intent on raising his son no matter how difficult it might be. So when his wife wanted to give the baby up for adoption and threatened to leave him if he didn't agree, Samuel Forrest bid his wife goodbye.
Ruzan Badalyan filed for divorce a week after she gave birth to Leo.
He told ABC that when his son was born, the doctor came out and told him "there's a real problem with your son." But his reaction upon meeting his son for the first time was just the same, if not more than the usual loving reaction fathers have upon seeing their newborn babies.
"They took me in to see him and I looked at this guy and I said, 'He's beautiful—he's perfect and I'm absolutely keeping him,'" he said.
He explained that in Armenia, when a baby is born with diseases or abnormalities, parents are given the option of not keeping the baby.
"My wife had already decided, so all of this was done behind my back," he claimed, according to ABC.
The wife confirmed to TVNZ that she had a baby with Down syndrome but her story differs somewhat from Forrest's.
"He started to circulate the story on every possible platform without even trying to give me a voice accusing that I put him an ultimatum - marriage or the baby, which is absolutely not true. I tried several times to communicate but he never tried to listen," she said.
Forrest even created the "Bring Leo Home" page on Go Fund Me that will help bring him and his son back to New Zealand and he managed to raise over $487,000 despite only seeking $60,000.
Forrest said he plans to use the extra money to help unwanted and abandoned children in Armenia and other families with disabled children.
"The money raised is far beyond anything we expect or need. With a team of experts, I am planning how to best use the funds that you have entrusted to me. Of course this is for Leo, but it is also for the people of Armenia. My hope is to assist and help bring a better understanding of how to cope with newborns and children with special needs. I think this will be Leo's legacy to his Armenian heritage," he said.
