In Italy, it is extremely difficult for single people to adopt. In the rare instances where they do get approved, they are typically asked to take in a child with a disability. Luca Trapanese is one of these parents, but he wants to make it clear that his daughter was never a “second-class choice.”
Alba, a precious little girl with Down syndrome, was left at the hospital when she was born in 2017. Twenty people turned down the chance to foster or adopt her, but Luca was thrilled to have the opportunity. In fact, his goal was always to father a child with special needs!
Even if he had registered for adoption with a partner, he said he still would have wanted a child with a disability. He grew up working with kids with special needs, so he knew he was ready to shower another one with all the love in the world.
His relationship with Alba certainly proves that. These days, the two of them are the best of buddies. There is so much love between them that you can feel it just by looking at their beaming faces!
Luca absolutely loves being Alba’s dad. That’s why he’s using their adorable bond to advocate for the Down syndrome community and encourage adoptive parents to bring babies with disabilities home.
“We live in a society that teaches us to be beautiful, perfect, the first, the best – and when you have a disabled child it is a defeat,” he told GMA.
Someone asked me, ‘But if you had a magic wand, would you heal her?’ As if it were a disease, but in reality, Down syndrome is not a disease but a way of being. I say, ‘No, because otherwise she wouldn’t be Alba.’ Alba is perfect as she is.
Luca is doing everything he can to educate others and help the world see his daughter the way he does. In his words, “Life with Alba is full of life, full of beautiful things. So every moment spent with her is a special moment.”
Learn more about this family’s story in the video below, and don’t forget to share it with your friends.
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