True beauty
My lovely Lois is always camera-ready…
As she smiled up at me, my heart melted. It was mid-june 2007 and Lois, 4 days old, was my first child. Only, at one of her newborn check-ups, the midwife had bad news.
‘There’s something wrong with her hearing,’ she told me and my husband Darren, then 33. ‘Is she deaf? I asked, worried. We hadn’t picked up on anything.
But Lois needed more tests.
At 8 weeks, she was fitted with a hearing aid.
To me she was perfect, but doctors warned her hearing problems were a sign of other issues.
Over the course of a year, doctors did further tests.
‘She has 18q deletion syndrome,’ a specialist doctor finally told us, when Lois was 14 months old.
It was a rare chromosome disorder – affecting just one in 40,000 babies worldwide.
By then, Darren and I had picked up on a few things.
Like how Lois’ tongue stuck out of her open mouth, how she’d struggled to walk.
She would bum-shuffle everywhere instead.
We were told the disorder meant Lois would develop learning difficulties, problems with speech. ‘Mummy,’ Lois finally babbled, aged 2.
I was delighted, felt hopeful.
Yet her speech was still impaired, and didn’t progress like other children’s.
Doctors also identified dysmorphic facial features. Lois had an abnormally small nose and open mouth posture – where her tongue poked out.
‘She still looks cute to me,’ I said. But the doctor warned it’d become more problematic the older Lois got.
It was upsetting, but I was determined nothing would hold Lois back.
As she grew up, she went on to develop stomach problems, and struggled to walk long distances.
Yet despite everything, she was a bubbly, happy girl.
Aged 4, she started mainstream school and made friends quickly.
But by 7, Lois knew she was different to other kids.
‘Why do I have hearing implants?’ she asked one day.
‘Just like some of your friends wear glasses to see, you wear a hearing aid to hear,’ I explained.
But walking long distances made her joints ache.
She attended weekly
By 7, she knew she was different to other kids
physio, and boxing classes to help her upper body strength.
And to me, my girl was absolutely beautiful.
I worked as a customer service assistant for an online clothing company for kids, so I regularly asked Lois to model outfits for me.
I’d take pictures, then put them on our website and social media pages.
‘This is fun,’ she’d giggle during costume changes. ‘I’d love to do more.’ I adored seeing her so happy. So last May, I e-mailed a modelling agency called Zebedee Management.
They were famous for hiring diverse models with disabilities – like Lois.
Within a month, I got a phone call.
She’d been invited to a casting call for a River Island advert.
‘There’s loads of people here,’ Lois gasped at the audition, daunted. But she shone. And two weeks later, we got great news.
‘You got it,’ I told Lois delightedly.
As we arrived at a big studio in London on 1 November, Lois was so excited.
She loved dressing in all the trendy clothes, came alive in front of the camera. Loving the attention. I was fizzing with pride, watching my girl, the professional model!
Months later, we spotted her photo on the website.
‘It’s me,’ she gasped, chuffed. It was surreal. Even more so when the BBC got in touch with us in mid-november.
Producers wanted to film Lois for a special programme. We jumped at the chance. The show would be an episode of the CBBC show My Life, and was about redefining what beauty looks like. My Lois was perfect for it. In mid-december, they filmed her posing away during her second photo shoot for River Island. In February,
we all
sat down to watch Lois’ episode on the telly. It was called Changing the Face of Beauty.
She watched, enthralled, and just loved being on the show.
It was a special moment for us all.
When doctors diagnosed her, we were scared it’d mean Lois would lead a different, difficult life.
But if anything, she’s really thrived.
Now 10, she’s grown into a thoughtful, intelligent and courageous little girl.
I hope it inspires others with disabilities to reach for their dreams too.
Since the show aired, Lois has done a number of local radio and TV interviews. My star! Modelling has boosted her confidence, and I can’t wait to see where her career takes her.
But whatever happens, I want her to know that she’s beautiful.
Inside and out.