The decision on whether or not to start a family is one that many women will face in their lifetime – and swimmer Ellie Simmonds is no different. As she prepares to turn 31 this November, the retired Paralympian says she is feeling the pressure to decide.
Speaking on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast last week, Ellie said, ‘This is the age where lots of my friends are starting to have children. You think to yourself, “Do I want children or do I not?”’
She continued, ‘I met an indecision therapist, who helps women decide. We’ve got this powerful decision that we can make – and fulfilment’s not all about having children. Yes, children are amazing, and it’s incredible bringing someone into this world. But I’ve also met loads of people who have decided not to have children. I think that’s powerful, too.’
And, as she explores in her new documentary Should I Have Children?, Ellie also has her disability to take into account. The five-time swimming gold medallist was placed in foster care when she was just two weeks old, after her birth mother was told that Ellie had achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism.
At three months, Ellie was adopted by her parents Val and Steve. But a 2023 documentary about her quest to find her biological mum revealed the single parent was given a ‘fact sheet’ about children with achondroplasia – and what little could be expected of their lives – all of which Ellie disproved.
But the former athlete further explained that there could be heartbreaking complications if a future partner also had dwarfism. There is a risk they would ‘double dose’ the dwarfism gene, and if carried to term, the baby sadly wouldn’t survive. ‘In the majority of cases, you terminate the pregnancy,’ Ellie said.
However, PGT-M tests – preimplantation genetic testing for gene disorders – can be done with IVF, so only healthy embryos are used. But Ellie, understandably, finds its usage ‘emotional’.
‘Do you go through PGT-M testing – where you make sure your baby is healthy, but it won’t have dwarfism – or do you risk it with a one-in-four chance?’ she questioned. Although the former swimmer finds herself in a ‘back-and-forth each day’ over whether to have kids, she knows she has time to make the right decision for her.
‘It feels so far away,’ she said. ‘I’m not at that process at the moment, because it’s not my situation. I’ve been very lucky to educate myself.’
