Meet Lucas, the first ever baby with Down's Syndrome to be Crowned the Gerber Baby
Lucas Warren, of Dalton, Georgia, is the baby food company’s “spokesbaby of the year” and the first infant with Down syndrome to capture the title since the contest’s start in 2010 and in Gerber's 90 year history.
“He’s very outgoing and never meets a stranger,” Lucas’s mother, Cortney, told TODAY Parents. “He loves to play, loves to laugh and loves to make other people laugh.”
Bill Partyka, CEO and president of Gerber Foods, said that the team chose Lucas after sifting through more than 140,000 entries because of his “happy expression.”
Every year, we choose the baby who best exemplifies Gerber’s longstanding heritage of recognizing that every baby is a Gerber baby,” said Partyka. “This year, Lucas is the perfect fit.”
Jason, Lucas’s father, said is hoping that Gerber’s decision to feature a special-needs baby would promote more acceptance of those with disabilities.
“We’re hoping this will impact everyone — that it will shed a little bit of light on the special needs community and help more individuals with special needs be accepted and not limited,” he said. “They have the potential to change the world, just like everybody else.”
"Still I feel a certain level of discomfort, not with Lucas, but with the way people are reacting to the news. That is to say, everyone is reacting positively and with great enthusiasm. This would be a very good thing, if not for the fact that a certain large percentage of those applauding Gerber today still support the violent and systematic slaughter of children just like Lucas," wrote Matt Walsh following the media frenzy.