The husband refused the child when he learned it was a girl

Zhanna Stepanyan together with her two and a half year old daughter, Mariam, for two years has been living  in an unusual cabin where there are even no elementary amenities. In the summer it is very hot, and in winter it is very cold. A 36-year-old woman says she has appeared in a cabin after her husband and mother-in-law learned that she would have a daughter.

“They did not agree because my husband had two daughters from his first wife. They did not want it because they did not collect the girl’s collection. He said: “If you want to bring a child, go live for yourself, but I will not help with alimony, nor will I recognize her as a daughter  as I do not need that child”. “They need a boy”, “said Janna. She wanted to have a girl and chose to leave. The unemployed woman is now being helped by her parents and brother. She also receives a poverty allowance of just 10,000 AMD.

The world champion Nazik Avdalyan has donated beds, clothes and toys for Little Mary. Zhanna says that the only way out of her current situation is finding a job, which, however, is very difficult in Gyumri with 40 percent poverty rate. “They do not accept me to work and my father who is 63 years old, I’m 36, and stores demand up to 30 years old good-looking girls with good English knowledge.”

Now the number one concern is the upcoming winter. Zhanna shows the holes in the walls, doors and windows from where the wind blows in winter. Zhanna’s only desire is to find means to repair the cottage.

Full text in Armenian