Born with phocomelia, a rare condition that resulted in the deformity of her arms, Dejana Backo has faced many obstacles in her life. But she overcomes them all with great will and optimism. Although her talent for painting and sports was her main focus at first, in recent years Dejana has taken delight in her role as a mother, proving that no obstacle in life can stop her.
Being a mother, with the support of her husband and family
In February 2023, she and her husband Mark became parents to a baby girl, Lara. Right from the start she amazed internet users with short videos of how she cared for her newborn. She had to adapt to her new role in life in a unique way, given that she has only one very short upper limb with incomplete fingers.
“The decision to have a baby was a joint one and has turned out to be one of the best of our lives. Of course, the support, both from Mark and my family, meant a lot to me,” she told a Slovenian media outlet.
Although common tasks take her a little longer sometimes, she finds ways to improvise and do things her own way. She's delighted to be the mother of a curious one-and-a-half-year-old girl. She's totally independent in most household chores, and drives her own car!
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In the videos she has been sharing on Instagram and TikTok since Lara's birth, she can be seen lifting her daughter out of her crib with her legs, swaddling her, playing with her, etc. In the captions, she repeatedly points out that not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance.
She admits that the first few months after Lara's birth were quite difficult. She couldn't lift her daughter in her arms by herself and needed a lot of help with taking care of her.
As her daughter grew older and stronger, Dejana also found it much easier to try out different approaches and devise ways to make caring for her daughter as flexible as possible. She says that she's learning from her daughter everything she needs to learn.
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Ordinary family life
Although Dejana impresses many Internet users who consider her a “supermom” and a “heroine,” she remains modest. In her opinion, she’s not doing anything special. She’s grateful that she can inspire others by sharing her “ordinary” family life.
“I thank God for every second of happiness that I live. Every smile, every moment — that's what makes life magical,” she wrote on Instagram as the caption to a photo of her and her daughter, taken on one of the trips she and her family love to take.
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