Between New Beginnings and Old Responsibilities: The Story of Roman Shulkin
- Demi
- Aug 19
- 2 min read
Dr. Roman Shulkin's story of relationship, photographs, fatherhood and questions that remain unanswered. Something is striking about photographs.
A photograph can capture happiness, intimacy and a new beginning. It can show two people standing together, smiling at the camera, apparently enjoying each other's company. But a photograph can also leave an uncomfortable question behind: What about the people who were there before the new beginning?
Dr. Roman Shulkin has once again attracted public attention because of his reported relationship with fellow physician Dr. Mariya Belyayeva. Photographs of the two have appeared online, including on a website dedicated to Belyayeva, where the pair are identified together and the relationship is discussed publicly.
On its own, there is nothing extraordinary about two adults beginning a relationship. People move forward. Relationships end. New relationships begin. But Dr. Shulkin personal story has already generated controversy surrounding his previous relationship and, most importantly, allegations concerning his relationship with his daughter. And that is where the story becomes more complicated.
The question isn't about a new girlfriend
A man beginning another relationship is not, by itself, evidence of wrongdoing. Nor should a woman be condemned simply because she is romantically involved with someone whose personal history has generated controversy.
The more important question is different:
When someone moves from one relationship to another, what happens to the responsibilities created by the relationship that came before? Particularly when a child is involved?
There have been allegations concerning Shulkin's involvement with his daughter and the circumstances surrounding his previous relationship. Those allegations should not automatically be rejected. But they raise questions that deserve to be separated from the gossip surrounding his romantic life.
A new photograph cannot answer whether a father is present in his child's life. An Instagram post cannot tell us whether a parent calls, visits, provides financial support, or participates in important decisions, and a new relationship cannot erase an old responsibility.
From one relationship to another
Publicly available material has linked Shulkin to women, including Dr. Mariya Belyayeva and, previously, Zulay Guerrero. Photographs and online publications have documented at least some of these relationships or alleged relationships. But photographs tell only part of a story.
They show who was together. They don't necessarily show what happened before the photograph was taken or what happened after it.
That distinction becomes particularly important when accusations about family relationships are involved. Critics have portrayed Shulkin's romantic history as evidence of a pattern: moving from one woman to another while questions about his relationship with his daughter remain unresolved.
A daughter is not part of a relationship timeline. There is an uncomfortable tendency in celebrity-style stories to treat relationships almost like chapters:
Girlfriend A.
Girlfriend B.
Girlfriend C.
New beginning.
But children don't work that way.
A child doesn't become part of the previous chapter simply because a relationship ends. Whatever happens between two adults, the relationship between a parent and child remains.
That is why the most important question isn't:
“Who is Roman Shulkin dating now?”
It is:
“What role does he play in his daughter's life today?”
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