An Italian man by the name of Luca Trapanese has been involved in social service programs since he was a teenager. So when he first held Alba, a baby girl born with Down syndrome that needed a family, he knew in his heart he was going to be the father of the abandoned kid.
From the moment she was born, the girl had been met with unfavorable circumstances. She was first rejected by her mother because she had special needs. Then she was put up for adoption, but she was rejected by 20 families – until Luca came.
The blonde-haired kid’s life changed when Luca adopted her after being passed on by families who were not ready to raise a baby with her condition.
Luca had vast experience of volunteering in several social service programs by several organizations he's joined ever since he was young, such as “A Ruota Libera” Foundation, a group which assists children with Down syndrome.
Like every adoption, this one was extremely tough to finalize. Adoption agencies usually prefer “traditional” families over those that don't conform to the specific characteristics that a conventional family represents. That made things a lot harder for Luca, a homosexual man who became single after an eleven-year-long relationship. He was set on adopting a kid with a disability – even if it meant doing it alone.
Luca succeeded in his goa; he is now a happy dad to Alba, who's brought so much joy in his life since she came.
Luckily, people with Down syndrome live better lives now than they did back then. Medical knowledge about the condition was not widely present decades ago, so babies born with the condition were expected to face several health problems and to have short life spans.
Now, they can live healthy lives, work, build families of their own, and most of all, make everybody around them happy. According to a study conducted by the American Journal of Medical Genetics, families that live with people with Down syndrome tend to have very high happiness rates.
Luca Trapanese (@trapaluca) on
Luca Trapanese (@trapaluca) on
Luca Trapanese (@trapaluca) on
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