MY NAME IS CAMILA AND I LOVE MY LIFE by Claudia Gori

Camilla is 33 years old and she’s affected by Muscular Dystrophy since she was 3 years old. Muscular Dystrophy is a genetic neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness and death of muscle cells and tissue.
For women affected by this disease, pregnancy is a hard choice. Apart from the chances of transmitting the genes of the disease to the children, pregnancy can cause a worsening of the syndrome with increased muscle weakness.
Camilla Nielsen has three kids: Ella, 3, and twins, Agnes and Esther, born 7 months ago, in Randers, Denmark. Camilla’s body is in a worse condition than before the pregnancies. She often gets tired, she can ́t lift her children and needs help twelve hours per day, but when she looks back at the decisions she took putting herself to risk, she feels she did the right thing. She has always wanted to experience the joy of motherhood, as she’s always wanted to lead a normal life.
When I ask Camilla to write me her story in a diary, the first sentence she wrote down is: my name is Camilla and I love my life. This is not a story about a disability but it’s about being a woman, a mother and a girlfriend struggling everyday with something that makes everything more difficult.