Parents of disabled daughter consider divorce to pay for her health care costs

With medical expenses for their six-year-old daughter, Brighton, topping over $15,000 a year, Maria and Jake Grey decided that the only way to cover up the financial need was through a divorce.

Maria and Jake are the parents of two beautiful little girls – 2-year-old Faren and Brighton, who is still developmentally a baby, reported WFAA.

She has a rare chromosomal disorder, Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, which requires her expensive medicinal care and support. Even with health insurance, the family has been spending a lot of money on her treatment.

The Greys consider their responsibility of caring for Brighton as a blessing, but when the financial stress hits, it is difficult for them to adjust.

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“You know, when you have a newborn, everything gets really stressful. You really have to adapt to someone needing you 24/7, all the time,” Maria stated to the source. “We’ve had a newborn for six-and-a-half years.”

The $15,000 annual expenditure on her treatment is something they pay out of their own pocket and is 30% more than their annual income.

The source informed that Jake makes around $40,000 a year as an army veteran, so they don’t qualify for Medicaid. They can receive state assistance but there are thousands of people already on the waiting list, with some people waiting for up to 14 years.

So to qualify for the Medic, the couple are planning to get a divorce so that Maria can apply as a single, jobless mother of two.

“It would just be to get a divorce. It would be to not be together to get our child what we need,” Maria explained.

Meanwhile, Jake added, “We’ve just struggled and struggled with it, and now we’ve gotten to the point, where we feel it’s a real possibility.”