Former Paralympian swimmer Ellie Simmonds has addressed fans after meeting her birth mother who 'rejected her as a baby' over her dwarfism.
On new ITV documentary Finding My Secret Family, Simmonds goes on a journey to find her birth mother who gave her up partly on account of her achondroplasia - a form of dwarfism - putting her into foster care at just a few days old.
The 28-year-old has since responded to the outpouring of support she's received from viewers since the programme aired for the first time last night (Thursday, 6 July).
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Simmond's journey to discovering more about her childhood and family sees her find out her mum was given an information sheet about dwarfism which read: "Children have to deal with being stared at and laughed at by other children. Indeed, there are those with normal height who equate short stature with evil and stupidity."
The information sheet led to her mum wishing she'd had an abortion, or that Simmonds had 'died' at birth.
Later in the documentary, Simmonds tracks down her mum and spends five hours with her off camera.
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"What touched my heart was she said she thinks about me every day, and she still sees me as her daughter," she said. "It’s helped with finding out who I am, looking at someone who birthed me, the nature I’m from, it makes you a bit more whole. Questions I’ve carried for years have been answered."
The former Paralympian resolves: "I’m proud of my life and I love my family, and maybe that family just got a bit bigger."
Simmonds has received swaths of comments of support on social media following the release of her documentary and has since taken to her Instagram to respond.
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Simmonds post reads: "Just want to say thank you so much to everyone for the messages and support I’ve received since opening up about my story and the lead up to the documentary.
"But my biggest thanks goes to everyone who helped make the doc what it is. Thank you to Jas, Colleen, Glesni, Jo Clinton Davis, @arthursbearnecessities @jonolanc , Essex Social workers and everyone else (I wish the doc could have been longer so people could hear your story too) who I chatted to who allowed me into their lives and family home to help shed a light into disability and adoption."
The post concludes: "If you’re adopted or fostering and need support, there’s some amazing charities and people to help, such as @adopteefutures and @adoption.uk
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"Hope you enjoy it."
You can catch up with Simmonds’ story in the Finding My Secret Family documentary on ITVX.
Topics: Sport, Mental Health, Celebrity, Parenting
Poppy Bilderbeck