Father Chooses Down Syndrome Baby After Wife Gives Ultimatum

A father living in Armenia has chosen to take care of his baby with Down syndrome after his wife wanted to abandon the child.

Samuel Forrest of Auckland, New Zealand was with his wife Ruzan Badalyan at a hospital in Armenia when his son, Leo was born. Shortly after the boy's birth, doctors told Forrest that there was "a real problem with [his] son," indicating that the newborn had Down syndrome.

Unfamiliar with Armenia's policies on childbirth, Forrest soon learned that he and his wife had the option of giving up their son due to his developmental challenge. While Forrest's wife wanted to give up the baby, the father refused, saying that he would care for Leo no matter how he was born.

"What happens when a baby like this is born here, they will tell you that you don't have to keep them," Forrest recalled to "Good Morning America."

 "My wife had already decided, so all of this was done behind my back."

Forrest then told the media outlet that his wife gave him an ultimatum: if he kept the baby, she would file for divorce.

"It's not what I want," Forrest said of the divorce. "I didn't even have a chance to speak with her in privately about it."

According to the Daily Mail, Forrest has now started a Go Fund Me page so he may take Leo back to New Zealand and raise him himself. He says he'd also like to use part of the funds to help orphanages in Armenia that often take in abandoned babies with Down syndrome.

"We'd also like to share the surplus funds with the only orphanage in Armenia that regularly takes abandoned Down syndrome babies as well as other organisations that can help these children," he said.