I'm Not 'Only With Him For His Money' | LOVE DON'T JUDGE
AN INTERABLED couple who found love online, have hit back at internet trolls who believe their relationship is fake and unnatural. Maria first came across Catalin's social media profile in 2019 and was immediately struck by Catalin's artistry and how open he was about his condition. Catalin has a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which is a degenerative condition which means he needs round the clock care. It was Maria who took the first step by sending him a friend request and leaving heart emoji's to all of his online pictures. After some initial messages, their relationship moved incredibly quickly. Maria told Truly: "Things went from liking to love in less than three weeks for me. We moved in together and now we're living together". Maria and Catalin decided to start a social media account to show the world their new relationship but not everyone online liked what they saw. Maris explained: "We started to get really rude comments like, 'I don't get the point of him being alive', our relationship is not natural and we are attention seekers". Despite these horrible comments, Maria and Catalin are incredibly happy together and have big plans for their future...with wedding bells possibly on the way!
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FunTranscript
00:00 COMM: This is Maria. She fell in love with Catalin.
00:05 MARIA CASTRO: The most affectionate of us both. I think it's me because I'm requesting a lot of love.
00:12 COMM: Catalin has spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative condition that means he needs full-time care.
00:18 MARIA CASTRO: Since I moved with Catalin, my life changed radically. I started caring for him.
00:23 COMM: The pair wanted to show that mixed ability relationships are possible. But they were
00:28 shocked by the reaction they received when they went public with their romance.
00:32 CATALIN CASTRO We started to get really rude comments. I saw a comment that told us that our relationship is not
00:38 natural and we are attention seekers. I want to say that couple likes us exist and we can have fulfilling and happy lives.
00:46 CATALIN CASTRO Good morning sunshine.
00:51 MARIA CASTRO Morning. I'm Catalin.
00:53 CATALIN CASTRO How are you?
00:54 MARIA CASTRO I'm fine, thank you.
00:55 MARIA CASTRO And my name is Maria. We met online in September 2019. I gave him a friend request on social media.
01:04 CATALIN CASTRO We started to talk every day and every night.
01:07 MARIA CASTRO And things went from liking to love in less than three weeks for me.
01:14 CATALIN CASTRO Same, for me it seemed like two weeks.
01:19 CATALIN CASTRO We moved in together and now we are living together.
01:25 CATALIN CASTRO We've been together for almost one year.
01:29 CATALIN CASTRO What do you want to eat? We have fried eggplant, we have some broccoli rolls and cheese strings.
01:36 CATALIN CASTRO Cheese strings.
01:38 CATALIN CASTRO I message Catalin online because I love the way he speaks about his disability, about his life and his
01:47 courage to speak and to stand out.
01:50 CATALIN CASTRO I suffer from spinal muscular atrophy. This means muscles get smaller and weaker and my mobility is affected
02:02 because I need to use a wheelchair.
02:04 CATALIN CASTRO Do you have any new comments?
02:06 CATALIN CASTRO A lot of comments.
02:08 CATALIN CASTRO Can you eat for me?
02:10 CATALIN CASTRO We started a social media account about our relationship. We started to get really rude comments.
02:19 CATALIN CASTRO Like, I don't get the point of being alive for him.
02:24 CATALIN CASTRO I saw a comment that told us that our relationship is not natural and we are some attention seekers.
02:32 CATALIN CASTRO A lot of comments are about me actually and everyone is telling us that I'm with him only for his money,
02:40 which is definitely not true.
02:43 CATALIN CASTRO I saw a comment yesterday that said I'm a gold digger and I am dumb and that I missed my future.
02:56 CATALIN CASTRO That's pretty rude actually.
02:59 CATALIN CASTRO I think it's just funny.
03:02 CATALIN CASTRO Yeah, we can say that it's funny.
03:04 CATALIN CASTRO Your parents are coming today.
03:06 CATALIN CASTRO Since I moved with Catalin, my life changed radically.
03:10 I started caring for him, I think, since the first week of living together.
03:15 I also work and I also go to school.
03:18 I dress him, I get him on his wheelchair, I brush his teeth, his hair, almost everything.
03:26 Finding care for Catalin definitely makes us closer as a couple.
03:30 CATALIN CASTRO Hello!
03:32 CATALIN CASTRO What are you doing?
03:34 CATALIN CASTRO What are you doing?
03:38 CATALIN CASTRO I was waiting for you.
03:40 CATALIN CASTRO Come on.
03:44 Our relationship was not accepted at first by my family.
03:47 It's hard for them to accept it.
03:49 CATALIN CASTRO I can understand your situation.
03:51 I also put you in your parents' situation.
03:56 Gilace, how did I put you in my situation?
03:58 Catalin, maybe you can confirm.
04:00 I mean, I was always…
04:02 It would be good if they could accept it.
04:04 After, I think, one to two months after we moved in together, they accepted it and they are pretty excited about us.
04:14 I don't know to what extent it's ok, but I hope it's ok.
04:17 I understand a lot, but it matters.
04:21 Comments like "Let's see what money he has".
04:24 What money?
04:25 A lot. These are the most common ones.
04:27 It's interesting to see how a country reacts to a country that was not used to…
04:34 It's not very good.
04:36 I understand. It's ok. We'll manage.
04:39 This is our goal, to make us more visible, so it won't be so shocking when other couples see us.
04:47 The people that don't agree with our relationship, they should try to see more than his disability.
04:55 To see that our relationship is not just about caring for Catalin, it's much, much more than this.
05:04 I want to say that couple likes us exist and we can have fulfilling and happy lives.
05:10 Can I kiss you?
05:12 I don't have lipstick.
05:15 No, you don't have lipstick, Stans.
05:17 I think you are beautiful too today.
05:19 When I met Maria, I was very natural and I didn't care for her. I'm complete and just about happiness.
05:27 When I first met Catalin, I felt like this was the best moment of my life. I feel complete and I felt that everything I wanted from the person in my life was there.
05:41 We are going to get engaged.
05:44 Thank you.
05:46 We are going to get engaged.
05:48 We are going to get engaged.
05:50 We are going to get engaged.
05:52 We are going to get engaged.
05:54 We are going to get engaged.
05:56 We are going to get engaged.
05:58 We are going to get engaged.
06:00 We are going to get engaged.
06:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]