For the first time since the Gerber baby contest started, a child with Down syndrome was chosen as the winner.  The announcement was made on the Today Show with praise and support pouring in on social media.  Parents who have been denied coverage for their child with Down syndrome flooded social media with a different message.

Lucas is a great kid who made his national debut on the Today Show as the winner of the annual contest with Gerber.  NBC Nightly News shared their YouTube video with Lucas' parents saying, "He gets to spread so much joy and love to everybody." 

I agree.  His smile truly is showing that love to everyone he meets...and he isn't camera shy.

Not all parents are happy about this decision by Gerber.  Twitter and Facebook started to erupt with messages that contradicted the recent "happy story" due to Gerber Life denying coverage for children with Down syndrome.

"GerberLife so awesome to see a baby with Down syndrome as the new Gerber Baby. It would now be awesome to see Gerber Life provide life insurance to babies with Ds. When Shane and Wyatt were born they were denied life insurance because they were born with Down syndrome" - @ericwaxy

"We were denied a Gerber life insurance policy for my son who has Down Syndrome. He’ll be 13 in June." -@ASquisheeee1

Many are wondering now if the decision to have Lucas as the Gerber Baby is a marketing tactic or if it truly is a positive step that the company is taking towards including all.  

According to Business Insider, parents have been discussing coverage issues for their children with Down syndrome for years.  Gerber Life has stated in an e-mail to Business Insider, "The Gerber Life team issues policies per each child's unique situation."

Below are some of the tweets that have been showing up on Twitter:

Do you think this is a marketing tactic by the company?  Share your feedback or tweets that you found as well in the comment section.

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