A man refuses to give up newborn son with Down Syndrome

A New Zealand man from Auckland, Samuel Forrest has refused to give up newborn son Leo with Down Syndrome (...is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21) despite his wife filed for divorce.

According to ABC NEWS, when Samuel Forrest of Armenia heard a baby crying from outside his wife's hospital room, he knew his life would change forever. Not only had he become a father, but he would soon receive some unexpected news about his newborn son.

"This pediatrician walks out of the room with a little bundle -- that was Leo," Forrest said. "She had his face covered up and hospital authorities wouldn't let me see him or my wife. When the doctor came out, he said 'there’s a real problem with your son.'

"When I walked into the room they all turned to me and said 'Leo has Down syndrome, I had a few moments of shock."

"They took me in see him and I looked at this guy and I said, he's beautiful -- he's perfect and I'm absolutely keeping him."

Soon Forrest walked into his wife's hospital room with Leo in his arms. Her reaction was unlike one he ever expected.

"I got the ultimatum right then," he said. "She told me if I kept him then we would get a divorce."

Forrest said he was completely unaware of the hospital practices in Armenia when it came to children.

"What happens when a baby like this is born here, they will tell you that you don’t have to keep them," he said. "My wife had already decided, so all of this was done behind my back."

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

 He enlisted for some help on his GoFundMe page titled "Bring Leo Home."

"This really came out of the blue for me, I don't have a lot, I have very little in fact. The goal is to raise enough for a year so I can get a part-time job so Leo doesn't have to be in daycare and I can help care for him. He's lost a lot in two weeks. It'd be different if he had his mommy."

"After what I've been through with Leo, I'm not going to sit back and watch babies be sent to orphanages," he said. "As a child with Down syndrome, that becomes somewhat of a label. If we can get around this label, we'll see that they're normal. They're a little different from us, but they're still normal.

"They all have niches and I want to work hard to find out where Leo's special. This little guy is great."