A HOME WHERE LOVE RULES

Rika and Stephen have one wish for their adorable children: that they learn how to make their own way in life

THE three siblings couldn’t be more different. Abigail (6) is mad about animals, talkative Khloe (5) wants to be a teacher and little Izak (3) is going to be the driver of the biggest truck on the road, like, ever. Still, there’s no mistaking their family resemblance – with their fair hair and facial expressions they look like peas in a pod.

And there’s one other thing the Lowe children have in common: they’re all unusually short. Like their father, Stephen (40), they all have dwarfism.

“You get so used to being short it no longer bothers you,” says Stephen, who designs tents for a living.

It’s a midweek afternoon at the family home in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga. The festive season is nearly here and the kids are full of holiday fever, romping in the garden, eating cake and blowing bubbles for the dogs to chase.

“We don’t want them to think of themselves as different,” mom Rika (30) says.

“That’s why we want them all to go to a normal school. They must be able to enjoy being children and be allowed to make their own way in life.”

Abigail will start Grade 1 at CR Swart Primary School in January and Rika has already bought her new school clothes.

“They still need to be altered though. All the clothes we buy for them are too big, of course.”

Khloe will start in Grade R next year, while toddler Izak will remain at home under the watchful eye of Rika, a stayat-home mom.

The couple have been married for seven years and for Rika it was love at first sight.

“Stephen was my neighbour. There was building going on next door and I kept checking out this attractive guy through the kitchen window.

“I noticed he looked a bit short but I thought he was down in the foundations of the house,” she says, laughing.

“It didn’t bother me in the least that he was short. Height doesn’t matter – what counts is your heart.”

A whirlwind courtship was followed by a wedding and it wasn’t long before Rika discovered she was pregnant. She knew the chance of her children being born with dwarfism was high but that was fine by her.

“When I was expecting Abigail we BY JACQUES MYBURGH PICTURES: DINO CODEVILLA Rika and Stephen Lowe with their children (from left), Abigail, Izak and Khloe. Like their dad, the kids have dwarfism. But “we don’t want them to think of themselves as different”, Rika says.