Love Syndrome
The birth of a child with Down syndrome starts a woman on an incredible journey from Tzfat, Israel to courtrooms, hospitals, yeshivas, and wedding halls, all to do right by her child.
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Chaya Ben Baruch grew up as Enid, in a Conservadox family in Far Rockaway, New York. Midway through college, she left that world behind to study sea otters in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Fast-forward a decade: Enid is now married to a nice Catholic salmon fisher named Stan. She’s just given birth to her sixth child, and discovers he has Down syndrome. Many parents in her position would be devastated. Some might place their baby in an institution, or put him up for adoption. For Enid, the birth of Angkor started her and her family on an incredible journey—to Tzfat, Israel, and from there to court rooms, hospitals, ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, and wedding halls. And she did it all so she could do right by her child and the other special-needs children she picked up along the way.
Listen to the episode (originally released in 2014):
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