A Texas couple is considering a divorce to help finance their disabled daughter’s expensive medical treatment.
After nine years of marriage, Maria and Jake Grey are considering splitting their family up in order to qualify for Medicaid to help pay for their 6-year-old daughter's health care costs, according to WFAA-TV.
The couple's daughter, Brighton, has a rare chromosomal condition called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and needs around-the-clock care. She suffers from seizures and hearing and vision problems, WFAA reported.
"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. We've had a newborn for 6 1/2 years," Maria Grey told the news outlet.
The child’s medical care costs the Greys $15,000 a year out of pocket, even though they have insurance. Since Jake Grey makes $40,000 a year, the family doesn’t qualify for Medicaid, even though the family is spending 30 percent of its income on Brighton’s medical care.
If Maria Grey raised their two children alone, she would immediately qualify for the government-sponsored health insurance program.
The Greys said the decision on whether to divorce to better afford their child’s health care costs or to continue struggling to make ends meet boils down to a tough choice.
"We've just struggled and struggled with it, and now we've gotten to the point where we feel it's a real possibility," Jake Grey told WFAA.
The Greys said they never thought that having children might endanger their marriage.
“For someone to kind of make you choose between your marriage and your child is just—it's just a really weird spot to be in,” he said.
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