An Italian man, who is gay, catholic and single, has been garnering praise online for challenging stereotypes around fatherhood by adopting a child with Down's syndrome, who was rejected by 20 other families.
41-year-old Luca Trapanese, who hails from Naples, has asserted that he is "proud to be her dad".
Luca adopted his daughter, Alba, when she was just 13-days-old, back in July of 2017. Alba had been given up by her mother due to the genetic condition, which can cause a range of learning difficulties. The child was then rejected by 20 other families looking to adopt.
Luca, however, was the perfect fit for Alba, given that he has worked with children with disabilities since he was a young man, having established his own charity in 2007, which offers disabled kids the opportunity to socialise with their peers.
Speaking to the BBC about his experience of fatherhood thus far, Luca stated "Since I was 14 years old, I have volunteered and worked with the disabled so I felt I had the right knowledge and experience to do it."
"When I first held her in my arms, I was overcome with joy," he continued. "I felt she was my daughter straight away. It was the first time I held a newborn baby. Before that moment, I have always been scared. But, when I first held Alba, I knew I was ready to be her dad."
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Luca has been documenting his journey on Instagram, where he has amassed an impressive 134k followers.
Under one of the charity worker's recent Instagram posts, where he can be seen helping Alba to brush her teeth, fans were quick to show their support.
"Dad of the year ❤️," wrote one social media user, while another corroborated "This little girl is really lucky".
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