Mum hits back at husband’s claims she abandoned Down syndrome...

It was the story that shocked parents around the world this week, with a father reporting how his wife had divorced him and abandoned their child because she was ‘ashamed’ over his Down syndrome diagnosis.

In a twist to the story today, however, mum Ruzan Badalyn has spoken out to offer an insight into her version of events.

Ruzan, who gave birth to baby Leo in an Armenian hospital in January, took to her social media channels to share her side of the story.

Describing the day Leo was born as “the happiest day”, she said that she was shocked to find out that her little boy had Down syndrome. Knowing that life would be easier on so many levels for her son if he went to live in New Zealand, where her husband Samuel Forrest is from, she said she knew she had to make “a ruthless decision”.

Post by Ruzan Badalyan.

“I saw the evasive looks of the doctors, my relatives’ tear-stained faces, received calls of condolences and realised that only a move to a country with such standards as New Zealand would entitle my son to a decent life...Hardly had I recovered from the first shock, when the doctor approached me and told me to voice my decision whether I was going to keep Leo or not. I had to make the most ruthless decision in my life within several hours," wrote Ruzan on her Facebook page.

She added: “In the hardest moment of my life when my husband should be next to me and support and help to take the right decision, I could not find any support from his side. After that incident, he left the hospital notifying me hours later that he was taking the kid with him, that he is going to leave the country for New Zealand and I do not have anything to do with the situation.”