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Paralympian Ellie Simmonds has revealed that she was adopted as a baby after her birth mother put her up for adoption at just 10 days old.
The gold medal-winning swimmer, who has two world records, went on a search for her biological family last year and was reunited with her birth mother.
Simmonds was adopted when she was three months old, but has never publicly revealed her family background. But now, she is set to detail her journey in a new ITV documentary Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family that will air on 6 July.
The Strictly Come Dancing star, 28, was born with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. She spoke about being devastated to discover that her biological mother wished she had died at birth after doctors said Simmonds would be ridiculed.
In her documentary, Simmonds said she was “never emotionally affected” by the thought of her biological family “until now”.
“It never made me feel rejected or ask, ‘Why do my birth parents not want me?’” she said, as reported by The Mirror. “I’ve been so focused on the future and never through about it.”
However, “questions started to bubble up” so Simmonds decided to search for answers. She began with looking through photographs and documents that her adoptive parents kept for her, and found that one of the reasons her birth mother gave for giving Simmonds up for adoption was dwarfism.
She enlisted the help of a specialist social worker to get hold of files relating to her birth and discovered an information sheet that was given to her birth mother containing shocking claims.
The document warned that Simmonds would have a “large skull and depressed nasal bridge” and that children with dwarfism “tend to be muscular and acrobatic, which is perhaps the reason for them traditionally being involved in the circus and other forms of theatre”.
It also claimed: “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.”
Reflecting on the “information” her birth mother would have received, Simmonds said: “Can you imagine reading that and thinking, ‘That’s my child’? In a way, I understand, when you don’t know anything about the disability and you get this. You’re going to be scared.”
The social worker’s report also described that Simmonds’ birth mother, who gave her the name Eleanor before giving her up, felt “very guilty regarding Eleanor’s disability and wishes she had an abortion, or that Eleanor had died”.
Simmonds nearly ended the search, but got in touch with the family of her foster carer who took her in from the age of two weeks to three months old. She decided to carry on the search for her birth mother.
When her social worker eventually uncovered her birth mother’s contact details, it emerged that she lived near Simmonds. She said: “I could have seen her walking down the street. I might have walked past her.”
They exchanged letters, in which the swimmer’s birth mother explained: “Your father and I separated before I realised I was expecting you. Unfortunately it was very sad and traumatic in my life and I struggled with my mental health.
“I’ve suffered with guilt and self-hatred for not being strong enough to cope. I cannot express the happiness I feel to know your parents and siblings have provided you with such a loving environment, that you’re so happy. You’ve achieved so much.”
Simmonds met her birth mother for five hours in a hotel and reconnected, which she described as “amazing”. She has decided to protect her birth mother’s identity.
“We were howling with laughter, we’ve got the same sense of humour. I kept looking at her and thinking, ‘Wow, that’s my mum’. I felt like her face was just like mine,” Simmonds said. “What touched my heart was she said she thinks about me every day and she still sees me as her daughter.”
She added: “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. I’m proud of my life and I love my family, and maybe that family just got a bit bigger.”
Simmonds, who was appointed an MBE at the age of 14 in the 2009 New Year Honours, was adopted by her parents who live in Walsall. She has three sisters and a brother.
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