Photo: Facebook
A selfless act of kindness turned into a lifetime commitment for a man who took in his girlfriend's baby and became his legal guardian.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Apr 22, 2023
A Brazillian man's entire life was flipped upside down after his girlfriend showed up at his home with a newborn baby in her arms.
Twenty-five years ago, Moisés Costa, who is from Goiana, Brazil, had gotten a visit from his then-girlfriend, who had shown up on his doorstep, and she wasn't alone. While Costa had initially thought she was just coming to see him, never did he think he was about to become a father.
Costa's girlfriend dropped off her baby at his house, but he wasn't the biological father of the little boy.
When Costa's girlfriend was five months pregnant, she told him about the baby and then disappeared. While Costa had never really believed that the baby was his, when his girlfriend showed up on his doorstep several months later, he let her in.
After some time catching up, his girlfriend promptly told him that she needed to go grocery shopping and would need him to watch her baby son, Davyd, while she was out. Costa agreed, but unfortunately, Davyd's mother never returned.
“My mother insisted that she not leave him, but she didn’t come back,” Costa told Metropoles, via Goalcast. To rule out all speculations, Costa decided that he would get a DNA test to see if he might be Davyd's biological father.
When the tests all came back negative, instead of giving up the baby, Costa chose to keep him and raise him as his own child.
His son eventually developed serious health concerns while still fairly young.
Davyd suddenly fell extremely ill, but when Costa brought the baby to the hospital, he wasn't registered and therefore wasn't able to receive the quick treatment he needed to survive.
"Due to having many seizures and fainting, the boy needed medical attention, but for that, civil registration was necessary,” Costa explained. “My mom and stepdad registered Davyd to save his life.”
While at the hospital, Davyd was found to have developed a serious brain injury and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and permanent atrophy of the limbs.
Despite Costa and Davyd not having any blood relation, Costa was determined to take care of him, especially after seeing how much his biological mother was not interested in being in his life.
Costa eventually began a search to look for Davyd's biological father.
Due to all of Davyd's hospital bills adding up, and him being both nonverbal while also needing 24/7 care, both Costa and his 72-year-old mother have found it hard to make sure they are both around to care for him.
Now that Davyd is getting older as well, Costa wants to ensure his foster son will be taken care of when he’s older. Due to his worries, Costa decided to reach out to the authorities and media outlets to help find Davyd's biological father or other members of his family who want to meet him.
“Davyd is the love of my life, I’m not going to hand him over to anyone,” Costa said. “But we need help, things are not easy. I work on a shift basis, so I’m with him on all my days off. My mother can no longer carry him, the physical demand is very demanding. What we need is help to divide the responsibilities."
“If my mother and I are absent, Davyd is alone in the world. I don’t want them to take him away from me, we’ll continue to take care of him, but I want to be calm in knowing that if we’re absent, he’ll have someone else to take care of him," he added.
While Costa and Davyd may not be biologically related, the 52-year-old stepped up to take care of a little boy who had no one left. Their inspiring story prompted community organizers to create an online crowdfunding platform to help raise money for both Costa and Dayvd.
“He is my son at heart," Costa said. "We are brothers in the document, but he is my son and my best friend; I do everything to take care of him."
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics.