Introduction

My name is Oleg Rabinovich. I'm a 32 year old lawyer. I'm very happily married to Melissa, a television news executive producer. We have been together for over 10 years. We have 3 kids:


Ethan: 5 years old

Dylan: 2 years old

Ava: 1 years old


Ethan and Ava are happy smart kids who I have very high hopes for and they are my pride and joy.

The above photo was taken during Ava's first birthday.

This blog will not really be focusing on Melissa, Ethan, or Ava though I will occasionally talk about them.


The purpose of this blog is for me to discuss what it is like being the father of a severely disabled child.


Dylan was born December 9, 2005. He has been diagnosed with Emanuel Syndrome, otherwise known as an 11/22 Unbalanced Translocation. That second one is a mouthful so I will stick to using Emanuel Syndrome.


When Melissa got pregnant for the second time, we were both so excited. She wanted a girl, I wanted a second boy. She did everything that a pregnant woman is supposed to do. She took her prenatal vitamins, she didn't eat sushi, or drink caffeine or alcohol. All the medical checkups went great. It was a great pregnancy.


Then on December 9, she went into labor and had a very good natural birth. Dylan came out and right away we knew something was very wrong.......