How would you feel if you were pregnant and waiting to meet the love of your life and was told that your child would never be the same like the other kids you see on the street? Sian Davey, a professional photographer and a mother of Alice shared her story through her photographs.
“I was deeply shocked when Alice was born as an ‘imperfect’ baby. It was not what I had expected. Our first experiences in hospital did little to diffuse this. Examining Alice the paediatrician pulled back her legs, pushed her thumbs deep into her groin, and promptly announced that we should take Alice home and treat her like any other baby. But she didn’t feel like any other baby, and I was fraught with anxiety that rippled through to every aspect of my relationship with her. My anxieties penetrated my dreams. I dreamt that Alice was swaddled in a blanket and that I had forgotten all about her. I unwrapped the tight bundle that she was nestled in, to feed her, only to discover that she was covered in a white fluid – a fluid of neglect; and yet I was unable to feed her, unable to respond to her basic needs” Sian Davey said.
Unable to accept the truth initially, Sian Davey drifted away from her daughter. She picked herself up soon after and came to realize how much she has distance herself from her daughter. The little bonding on a daily basis made her fell in love with Alice. She has one little hope, that is for Alice to live without being discriminate or ostracize against.
“I wonder how it might be for Alice to be valued without distinction, without exception and without second glance. This project is for her, for Alice.”
Isn’t she lovely?
Adapted from Looking for Alice by Sian Davey
By Crystal Tan | Pictures By Sian Davey
