A divorced couple in northern China who remarried following their son’s autism diagnosis has touched the hearts of many on social media.  

Originally married in 2013, the couple filed for divorce in 2019, purportedly due to poor communication.

The ex-wife, identified only by her last name Huang, was granted custody of their daughter while the father, who was not named in local reports, was granted custody of their then-1-year-old son. However, the divorced couple ended up staying together in the same house due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Shortly after, Huang and her ex-husband noticed something unusual in their son’s behavior. After bringing the boy to a specialist, they later discovered that their son had autism.

Their son’s condition prompted Huang and her ex-husband to work together and provide the best possible care for him.

The ex-husband began selling fish to cover his son’s rehabilitation treatment expenses. Huang started bringing the boy to other provinces in hopes of getting better medical advice from experts.

As the couple faced numerous challenges together in the past two years, they found themselves comforting one another.

Having seen how each other worked hard to support their family amid all their problems, the divorced couple ultimately overcame their communication issues and decided to remarry each other in January.

“My son is five and a half years old. His rehabilitation treatment has not achieved much progress,” Huang was quoted as saying. “No matter what his condition is in the future, we will face it without any misgivings.”

As their story circulated on social media, many praised how the couple placed their child’s needs first and re-ignited their relationships in the process. 

There were also those who said they were touched as they understood how autism can be a challenging diagnosis for families to navigate.