Rapper Fat Joe has opened up about raising his firstborn son Joey, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome and autism at birth, after Joey’s mother said she wanted to place him for adoption.
Fat Joe, born Joseph Cartagena, was 19 when Joey was born. Speaking on Shannon Sharpe’s “Cl*b Shay Shay” podcast, he recalled the moment doctors delivered the diagnosis in the delivery room, with his own mother and father present alongside Joey’s mother. “When he’s born, the doctor tells us, ‘Hey I got bad news … he has Down syndrome; he’s going to be a big challenge,’” Fat Joe told Sharpe.
According to the rapper, Joey’s mother responded, “Yo, I can’t do this. I’m going to have to give him up for adoption.” He has said his own mother refused to allow it, and that the family raised Joey themselves from that point on. Fat Joe has said he never saw Joey’s mother again after that day, telling Sharpe she “never visited him again.”
Now 35, Joey is nonverbal and was raised with the help of Fat Joe’s parents. The rapper, who is also father to son Ryan and daughter Azariah with his wife Lorena, has described Joey as the “Don” of the family. “This guy’s happy,” Fat Joe said of his son. “I swear to God, he’s always happy. He’s never sad.”
Fat Joe has continued to speak publicly about Joey’s diagnoses, including in an April appearance on Today marking Autism Awareness Month, where he said, “We’re so proud of him, and he’s in a state of happiness… It’s hard. It’s not easy, and so if it’s not easy for me and I’m all right, just imagine the regular, average person who has to deal with autistic kids.”
He has said he hopes sharing his experience encourages other parents of children with disabilities. Of raising Joey despite the circumstances of his birth, Fat Joe has said plainly, “I don’t know how to give up on my kids.”