Dad Refuses to Give Up Special-Needs Newborn After Wife Leaves Him

Monica Sanchez | February 6, 2015
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Every human life is a gift from God. This father wholeheartedly believes that.

Samuel Forrest and his wife met their beautiful son Leo in the delivery room on Jan. 21, 2015. The two new parents, however, had sharply different reactions.

Seated in the waiting room, Forrest saw a pediatrician walk out with his son, swaddled in blue blankets. 

"This pediatrician walks out of the room with a little bundle—that was Leo," he said.

"She had his face covered up and hospital authorities wouldn't let me see him or my wife. When the doctor came out, he said 'there’s a real problem with your son.'"

He then followed the doctor and nurses into the room where they had placed his baby.

“When I walked into the room,” Forrest told ABC News, “they all turned to me and said, ‘Leo has Down Syndrome.’ I had a few moments of shock.”

After the news sunk in, Forrest held his baby boy for the first time, absolutely smitten.

“I looked at this guy and I said, he’s beautiful—he’s perfect and I’m absolutely keeping him.”

Forrest soon walked into his wife’s hospital room with Leo in his arms, the new father undoubtedly excited to share with her his joy. 

She unfortunately did not feel the same way.

The hospital had given her the option behind closed doors to leave the baby. She had her mind made up. 

"I got the ultimatum right then," he said. "She told me if I kept him then we would get a divorce."

Forrest refused to give Leo up. A week later, his wife filed for divorce.

He told ABC News that he never had a doubt in his mind that he would keep his son, even if it came down to his wife leaving him.

“It’s not what I want,” Forrest said. “I didn’t even have a chance to speak with her in private about it.” Nonetheless, Forrest put his newborn baby first.

He's made plans to move to his native country of New Zealand, where he and Leo will be with and receive support from loved ones.

"This really came out of the blue for me," he said. "I don’t have a lot, I have very little in fact. The goal is to raise enough for a year so I can get a part-time job so Leo doesn't have to be in daycare and I can help care for him.

"He's lost a lot in two weeks. It'd be different if he had his mommy."

Unable to pay for the trip on his own as a freelance business contractor, he set up a GoFundMe page titled “Bring Leo Home,” which, just nine days later thanks to various donations, has far surpassed his goal.

“Thanks everyone–we are stunned beyond words at the incredible support & love you’ve shown for little Leo,” Forrest wrote. “9 days after we started our campaign, Leo and I found out in the wee hours of morning that we had crossed our target! He is a lucky guy to have the support of thousands of friends like you around the world.”

He plans on using the additional funds to secure a decent home and schooling for Leo in Auckland, New Zealand, as well as to aid facilities and programs in Armenia such as an orphanage that regularly takes in abandoned Down Syndrome babies for care. 

"After what I've been through with Leo, I'm not going to sit back and watch babies be sent to orphanages," he said. "As a child with Down Syndrome, that becomes somewhat of a label. If we can get around this label, we’ll see that they’re normal. They’re a little different from us, but they’re still normal.

"They all have niches and I want to work hard to find out where Leo's special. This little guy is great."

H/T WJLA

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