A few months ago, I spent a beautiful day out in the Bay Area with Ellie Simmonds, a Paralympic five time gold medallist. For hours, we chatted about our lives and shared stories over coffee and tea. If you’re in the UK, you will get to hear this conversation and more on Tuesday, April 5 at 9 PM during the 1-hour BBC One special, “Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism” produced by Flicker Productions.
Do I think there will ever be a world without dwarfism? No, I don’t.
Do I think we need to be more accepting and understanding of the decisions people make that they feel is best for their own life? And that includes parents, regardless of stature because as I’ve said before – parents are the parents. Parents make decisions for their children and 80% of children with achondroplasia are born to parents without the condition. Yes, I do.
We can’t change the fact that we’re currently living in the middle of scientific breakthroughs. What we can do is educate ourselves and try to understand how and why some are making this terrifying, but exciting decision to not create a world without dwarfism, but to care for and raise a child with dwarfism in a world that’s already tough as shit to live through.
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