Syrian student proud of father with Down syndrome who raised him

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The story of the Issa family from a small Syrian village spread throughout the world in a few days. Sader is 21 years old, he is studying at the institute at the medical faculty. Recently, the guy spoke on his Twitter page about an unusual father with Down syndrome and suddenly became a celebrity. The fact is that the probability of having a child in men with this genetic disorder is very low, and today scientists know only a few such examples. However, the main thing in this case is not even this, but the happiness with which all the photographs of the Issa family are saturated: - Sader writes.

Al-Bayda is a small village in northwestern Syria, with only about a thousand inhabitants. These territories are historically Christian and belong to the Antioch Patriarchate of the Greek Church, so most of the people here are Orthodox Christians. In such a small society, everyone, of course, knows each other up to the seventh generation. Apparently, you can learn from these people real generosity and open-mindedness. Jad Issa, who was born and raised in these places, was different from his peers from birth, however, without going into the jungle of genetics, everyone assessed him by those qualities that the young man had developed much better than most people - kindness, accuracy, commitment, simplicity and openness. Everyone knew him as a very hard-working young man, therefore, when Jud grew up and proposed to the girl, her family and everyone around him reacted absolutely fine to this. The choice of the bride was approved by everyone in the village. No one ever wondered why she agreed.

Two years later, a real miracle happened, a little Sader appeared in the family. According to statistics, about half of women with Down syndrome can become mothers, and the probability that a child will inherit a genetic pathology on chromosome 21 is, by the way, less than 50%, so such cases, although rare, are encountered. But with men, everything is more complicated. Of these, only one in 100 is, in principle, capable of becoming a father, but given how rare such marriages are, the statistics of such cases are practically zero.

However, contrary to all calculations, the Issa family received this incredible gift of fate. Jud became a wonderful father. Despite the fact that the man developed health problems, he got a job at the mill to support the sprawling family. The owner was pleased with the executive worker who did simple work - sweeping floors, pouring grain, but always doing it incredibly neatly. Today, the grown-up Sader jokes about what a wonderful career his father made, and behind these words lies the enormous gratitude of a child who has seen only love and care from his parents all his life.

- tells the guy about his childhood.

Sader is currently in his third year of medical school and plans to become a dentist. He admits that it was his father who inspired him to get an education and did everything to make his son's dream come true:

Regarding his childhood, Sader says that it never occurred to him to be ashamed of his father, because no one teased him - in the village Jada is considered an ordinary person, well, maybe he has his own characteristics. Everyone respects him as the father of the family, and not without reason, the man really did everything he could for his loved ones all his life, and his son, a student of a prestigious university, confirms this.

Family photos show that love and mutual respect reign in this family. Soon a detailed documentary will be made about the Issa family, but in the meantime they have become known outside their village thanks to the Internet. There are very few such examples in the world, but Sader began to look for them and publish information on his page. It is thanks to such stories that our society is gradually changing for the better: we no longer lock "special children" in special institutions, as it was in the middle of the 20th century; Gone are the programs for forced sterilization of persons with Down syndrome and comparable degrees of disability, which were previously in force in many countries; the insulting term "Mongolism" has gone from medical publications and speech - that is how this syndrome was called until 1961 because of the peculiar structure of the eyes of people who have it.

Most modern people come to understand that this syndrome is not even a disease, but it would also be unfair to pretend that the downside has no problems. For the person himself and for his loved ones, such "features" are in any case a huge test, because we are talking about the mental retardation of the child, although today it is believed that its level strongly depends on the occupation. In most cases, these children have problems with speech, many suffer from other concomitant diseases. Although medicine does not stand still. If earlier such children were predicted to live no longer than 25 years, today this figure has increased according to statistics to 50. And in Brazil, for example, João Joao Batista lives - the oldest person with Down syndrome, he is 71 years old.

However, the same statistics on this issue are categorical. According to her data, today more than 90% of women in developed countries, having learned about such a genetic abnormality in the early stages, terminate their pregnancy. This becomes a separate topic for discussion. Supporters of the preservation of any life call this approach modern eugenics, and their opponents talk about responsibility to other family members:

(Claire Rainer, Head of the Down Syndrome Association)

Sader Issa has his own opinion on this matter:

Probably, this is one of those problematic issues in which I definitely would not want to be a judge, especially for myself. Of course, the Syrian student is so optimistic because his family story is "a fairy tale with a happy ending." And it came true only due to the fact that the society that surrounded his "special" father from childhood really treated him warmly and did not set overestimated tasks for its unusual member. It was only through this approach that Jud became a full-fledged part of it.

Read on for how 2-year-old girl with Down syndrome has become the face of the largest chain of clothing stores in the UK.