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Single Italian dad changes fate of young girl with down syndrome

By on September 21, 2019

The fortunes of a young girl named Alba born with Down Syndrome changed after she was rejected first by her own mother and then by 20 potential adoptive families.

The story of Luca Trapanese’s journey to adopting baby Alba has gone viral for several reasons, most controversial of which may be the fact that social services don’t often grant custody to a single, homosexual man in Italy.

Nevertheless, they eventually made an exception in Luca’s case.

In an interview with BBC, the 41-year old said, “When I was 14, my best friend, Diego, discovered that he had terminal cancer. After he told me this, I decided to never separate from him.”

“I accompanied him to the hospital and was always there for him when he needed me.”

“Diego’s death left in me a deep awareness of what it means to live with a disease.”

“That’s why I volunteered at a church in Naples to help people with critical illnesses and children with disabilities,” said Trapanese.

In November, the 41-year-old Italian published the book Nata per te (“Born for You”), wherein  he recounts his journey to becoming the father of Alba, a girl with Down syndrome.

Wanting to become a catholic priest, he entered the seminary at age 25. After two years, he met a man with whom he fell in love and left the seminary with the support of his family.
Together with his partner, they founded a charity in Naples for people with disabilities.

During a radio interview, Trapanese explained that his case is special because it “destroys stereotypes about fatherhood, religion and family.”

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