Some families believe they could never bear the weight and suffering of raising a handicapped child alone. This conviction led to the creation of FANHA—Famiglie Accoglienti Nascituri Handicappati (Welcoming Families for Children With Disabilities)—explains Livio Lucà Trombetta. Launched in Messina in 1996, the project aims to prevent eugenic abortion by pairing a birth family with three foster families. One family takes the child in adoption or long-term foster care; the other two provide support and respite when life's demands become too much.
The goal is straightforward: to offer concrete help to those who feel utterly alone and unable to manage or accept a pregnancy, much less the birth of a sick child.
"Tragically, many mothers believe abortion is less harmful than bringing a disabled child into the world they cannot care for themselves. If we can build awareness of FANHA groups and show families what welcoming without conditions looks like, we can change how people think about this choice."
Livio and Liliana Lucà—he an architect, she a bioethics researcher—live this conviction in their own home. Their family includes Lucia, their biological daughter, and three foster children: Azeb, Iftu, and Marietta. In June 1998, they welcomed a newborn named Angelo, severely brain-damaged and given only hours to live by his doctors. Angelo lived for nine months in their family's care and love before returning to God. That experience became the birth of this project. As they write: "Selective, eugenic abortion will only grow if families do not step forward to welcome these children. And what kind of future are we building then—a world shaped not by the conquest of suffering, but by the elimination of those who suffer?"