{"id":224644,"date":"2020-06-02T14:28:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T19:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=224644"},"modified":"2020-06-01T20:34:01","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T01:34:01","slug":"couple-down-syndrome-autism-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/couple-down-syndrome-autism-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple with Down syndrome and autism celebrate 10 years of marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A husband and wife who are both neurodiverse are celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss, and along the way, they’ve been proving everyone wrong.<\/p>\n

Erica Davis, who has Down syndrome<\/a>, promised her mother that she would get married one day. But Kathy Davis had her doubts. \u201cI told her, \u2018You know, honey, marriage isn\u2019t for everybody,\u2019\u201d Kathy told the Orange County Register<\/a>. \u201cI did not expect it to happen.\u201d Yet in 2007, Erica met Ben Popely, an autistic man, at a dance for people with disabilities. They hit it off right away and began meeting at more events.<\/p>\n

“Erica would come home and say, \u2018Mom, I have a boyfriend! We held hands!\u2019\u201d Kathy said. \u201cShe\u2019s always had a good imagination, so I wasn\u2019t sure he existed. I asked what his name was, and she said, \u2018I don\u2019t know.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years later, Ben proposed at a winter formal, and they married in 2010, to the delight of their families. \u201cThey\u2019re a couple of little cuties,\u201d Cherie Popely, Ben’s mother, said. After their wedding and Disneyland honeymoon, Popely’s parents moved so they could be closer to the couple, and the Davises created a two-room suite for them in the upstairs portion of their house. And now, even 10 years later, they’re still affectionate and shower each other with compliments.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Model from Missouri with Down syndrome won\u2019t \u2018let her disability define her\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty sappy,\u201d Steve Popely, Ben’s dad, said. \u201cThey have never stopped the dating mentality.\u201d Cherie added, \u201cEverybody should know the love they have for each other.\u201d According to Kathy, it’s their differences that have made their marriage so successful. \u201cBen is charming and sweet and laid back,\u201d she said. \u201cErica is a schedule-follower: \u2018Hey, Ben, put on your clothes and brush your teeth.\u2019 They complete each other.\u201d Ben had his own method for success, though, saying, \u201cWe listen to each other, and I love her just how she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple couples<\/a> with intellectual disabilities such as Down syndrome have been celebrating marriage anniversaries in recent years. While it may not seem newsworthy, it wasn’t that long ago that people with Down syndrome weren’t allowed to marry at all. The state of New York, for example, would not allow<\/a> Paul Scharoun-DeForge to marry his wife Kris until they could both “prove” they were ready for marriage through tests measuring sexual knowledge, feelings, and needs. What these unions all prove, though, is that all people are capable of love, fidelity, and happiness. And no one should be barred from that simply because they are different.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A husband and wife who are both neurodiverse are celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss, and along the way, they’ve been proving everyone wrong. Erica Davis, who has Down syndrome, promised her mother that she would get married one day. But Kathy Davis had her doubts. \u201cI told her, \u2018You know, honey, marriage isn\u2019t for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":224645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCouple with Down syndrome and autism celebrate 10 years of marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A couple with Down syndrome and autism are celebrating their ten-year wedding anniversary. 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