Woman who abandoned Down Syndrome baby in Armenia has reunited with the child, the reports.
The wife of a New Zealand father who abandoned him and their newborn baby in Armenia after discovering the baby had Down Syndrome has denied she is now back living with them both because of the huge amount of cash raised for their cause.
Samuel Forrest, from New Zealand, made international headlines in February when he started a fundraising campaign to help raise baby Leo after his Armenian wife Ruzan Badalyan abandoned them in Armenia where he ran his own business.
More than $600,000 was raised. But since then Ms Badalyan has returned to her husband and child despite filing for divorce a week after Leo was born in her home country.
The fact Mr Forrest is now $600,000 richer thanks to the money that was raised for Leo, is not the reason why Ms Badalyan changed her mind, she told 3News. She is just delighted to be reunited wither her son.
‘It was the happiest day,’ she says. ‘He was so small, so cute. I remember I hugged him. He started making some noises. He was so cute. I was very happy.
‘I undressed him and skin to skin, he did that noise. He’d do it a bit for me, but in his sleep he did it for a whole hour like a little kitten. He knew he’d found his mummy.
‘I was afraid he wouldn’t remember me. It was very scary but hopefully he did. At that moment I realised I could never let him go.
‘I’m not an ideal mother; I’m simply a mother. But I’m doing my best.’
She has asked not to be judged by New Zealanders – it has not been revealed exactly where in the country they are living – but that they can just be left alone to get on happily as a family.