Every day, thousands of babies with rare diseases are born all over the world. Of all, each and every newborn is adorable and deserves love, care, and attention.
Regretfully, not everyone knows about this. Surprisingly, some parents even think about forsaking or disowning their children if, when they arrive, they don’t live up to their expectations.
Even in this day of knowledge and reason, many children with Down syndrome are still born into doubt because of the ongoing stigma associated with the condition.
A Russian man is raising his son Misha, who has Down syndrome, alone and trying to eradicate the stigma attached to the condition.
Sources claim that 33-year-old Evgeny Anisimov is committed to demonstrating to the world that children with Down syndrome are worthy of respect and affection on par with any other youngster. He is parenting Misha alone after his wife left because she could not cope with her son’s sickness.
Within a minute and forty-nine seconds after the birth of their kid, a doctor warned Evgeny and his wife, “I fear that your baby has Down syndrome.”
The father said, “When I found out that my son might have Down syndrome, I didn’t know what to do.” I believed that my wife would struggle more, therefore I believed it was my responsibility to support her and suppress my emotions.
“I chose to hold off on telling her until a few days later because we were promised the analysis results.”
“I remember that after learning that my baby has Down syndrome, I left the hospital and cried, but not for long,” he continued. I was a little embarrassed by my post-tears. After all, my life had not really changed at all.
My professional expertise had not diminished in the slightest, and I still had two legs and two limbs. Everything was on my side, interest, activity, desire, and all that. My child was born, everything went as planned. Still, the baby is special, and his life and destiny already mean a lot. And I’m screaming at the moment! This has an air of selfishness! Is this not fair? No, I take responsibility for it. Of course, it was unlikely that you would have an amniocentesis, but nonetheless. You become a parent because you desire a child. In the end, there are a lot of options: autism, cerebral palsy, defects in the genetic code, etc. Furthermore, down syndrome is not the worst, as I found out later.
That night, Evgeny began researching Down syndrome.
“I found that people with Down syndrome can live and work independently in Europe and are well-socialized,” the speaker stated. “However, it didn’t alter the choice I had already made.”
The new dad was forced to remain with his youngster. Sadly, his wife didn’t feel the same way.
“To leave my son in an orphanage at any point in time would be inhumane,” he said. Currently, Evengy is parenting Misha by himself following their divorce.
He said, “A newborn asks the outside world, ‘Am I needed here or not?'” And I say, “Son, you are needed!” with firmness. Being with a normal man is normal, even when we are by ourselves. I must emphasize that I am not a superhero; I am just an ordinary man.
Evegny hopes to raise awareness about Down syndrome so that no prospective parent would believe their child’s condition is a punishment or an insurmountable obstacle.
He told Bored Panda, “I want that idea to be conveyed and instilled in society through all of the articles about Mishka and me that are being published right now.” By leading by example, I also hope to inspire and motivate those who are or will be in similar situations to mine. I try to stay in contact with those who live close by and write letters to others who are farther away. I hope others who are going through a difficult time, like we did, find out about us. Have no fear! Everything will be well in the end.
I don’t know about you, but I think people like Evegny are deserving of a lot of recognition. What a great man he is, and how lucky Misha is to have him as a son.
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