The mother who was accused of abandoning her newborn baby with Down syndrome has decided she wants to move to New Zealand to be with him and his father. Armenian Ruzanna Badalyan is reportedly applying for a residency after she patched up her marriage with Kiwi Samuel Forrest, who raised over NZ$660,000 [$636,200] through online fundraising for baby Leo.

Forrest made headlines in February after he claimed his wife abandoned him and their baby after learning he has Down syndrome or DNS. According to him, Badalyan gave him an ultimatum, either choose her or their baby. He said he chose Leo over her. He then appealed to the online community to help him raise funds so he could take Leo back to his native New Zealand from Armenia. More than 17,000 generous online benefactors donated over $660,000 to help him raise Leo.

And it appears that the couple have worked things out between them. A source told Stuff Forrest and Badalyan decided not to sign their divorce. Under Armenian law, they need to sign a second time their papers for their divorce to be finalised. They got back together before they finalised their divorce.

Now they apparently want to raise Leo together in New Zealand, but that plan depends on whether the country’s immigration will find it legitimate, the source told the paper. As for the donors who pledged money to the cause, they may request a refund if they have concerns about the campaign, a GoFundMe spokeswoman said. The rep refused to comment on whether Forrest made false representations to the donors.

Badalyan allegedly changed her mind about abandoning her family upon reading an article written by a mother of an American woman with a Down syndrome child. “Despite all the negative media and emotional struggle, she wanted to go against the cultural norm and embrace the son,” the source said. “But there is a lot of money involved now.”

A Mother’s Denial

Badalyan previously denied Forrest’s allegations that she abandoned her own son. She explained on her Facebook page how Forrest took away from her the decision to keep Leo. She admitted that she would rather have Leo raised in New Zealand, where special needs children are better taken care of, than in Armenia, where such child’s life would be difficult. However, she refuted his claim that she forced him to choose between Leo and her.

On the contrary, she claimed that Forrest left her side in the hospital and just notified her hours later that he was taking their son with him to New Zealand. He also did not give her option to come with them.

The Father’s Other Children

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Leo is not Forrest’s first child or even the first who has been diagnosed with DNS. As the Daily Mail revealed, Forrest has four children from his first marriage, ranging from 15 years old to 6. The youngest also has DNS. However he hasn’t seen them in years because he was excommunicated from their Exclusive Brethren church in Whangunui after his divorce from his first wife.

He was allegedly banned from seeing his kids when he was forced out of the church. This led him to leave New Zealand and start a new life in another country, which in this case was supposed to be Armenia. Stuff also revealed that he had a conviction for assaulting his ex-wife’s father.

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