Most of Dariya's family has rejected her because of her disfigured appearance. Dariya, a three-year-old girl born with only half a face, has no lips or chin, but her mother, Elena Shpengler, has revealed that her family disowned her primarily due to their shame regarding Dariya's condition.
The 46-year-old woman has made the difficult decision to quit her job to provide full-time care for her daughter, who is currently undergoing lengthy, intricate, and costly medical treatments that will span over several years.
The distressing discrimination against the child has been so overwhelming that both she and her husband, Yuri, have relocated from their original village to escape the judgment and rejection from their own family and former friends.
Only my sister offered her support, while all other relatives completely severed communication with us.
"My brothers, their children, my husband's mother – nobody wanted to accept Dariya," Elena shared. However, the mother remains steadfast in her decision not to conceal Dariya, even when faced with advice from medical professionals at her maternity hospital suggesting that she quietly relinquish the child to Russia's challenging orphanage system.
"We do not hide Dariya from people," she stated with defiance. "We take her with us everywhere. Can you imagine, we walk into a shop, encounter our own relatives, and they immediately exit, instructing their children not to look at us?"
In a shocking turn of events, their relatives even reported to the police that she and her husband had caused damage to Dariya's mouth themselves.
"I received a call from the police, and they demanded explanations.
"Our surgeons were deeply surprised by all of this. We are confident it will be resolved soon, but we are very anxious.
"And we're channeling all our energy to help Dariya. We need to raise funds and provide support for her as she has many hurdles to overcome."
Surgeon Orest Topolnitsky, who conducted the surgery on Dariya, strongly condemned the heartless attitudes surrounding the case.
