A family photo to melt any heart . . .

Beaming with pride and devotion – the family who’ve adopted NINE children with Down’s syndrome

IT IS a picture of relaxed companionship that could have been taken at any large family gathering. But take a closer look and you’ll see that this heart- warming scene is no ordinary family portrait. For nine of the children have the chromosomal disorder Down’s syndrome – and all of them have been selflessly adopted by one extended family, the Patterson clan.

Braving insulting stares, hurtful criticism and a never-ending timetable of hard work, the family have devoted their lives to providing a loving home to some of the most vulnerable people in Britain.

The photograph shows James, 32, Alice, 28, Molly, 26, and Riley, ten, who were all adopted by retired nurse Pam Patterson and her husband Gerald, a former police officer, and made a part of their rumbustious household in Birmingham.

Added to the remarkable group are David, 35, and Timothy, 28, who were adopted by Pam’s brother Roger Bull and his wife Leigh, who also foster four-year-old Marie.

Meanwhile, Roger’s daughter, Jenny, 33, adopted six- year- old Isabel and more recently threeyear-olds twins, George and Tomas. And his youngest son, Matthew, 23,

is also a part- time carer for his two brothers.

The experience of adopting, the Pattersons say, has enriched their lives. But, they admit, it hasn’t always been easy. While Pam and Gerald’s friends are playing golf and heading off on luxury holidays in their retirement, the couple still need to organise a babysitter when they want to go out.

More cruelly, the family have had to face insulting comments from passers-by, from doctors and even from their own relatives, one of whom asked why they were ruining their lives and the lives of their biological children.

Their answer is simple, as they make clear today in an uplifting interview with The Mail on Sunday: they wished to care for children who might otherwise have languished in the care system.

One of the most common genetic abnormalities, Down’s is caused by the presence of an extra chro-

mosome, most commonly a chance occurrence at the time of conception. As well as the familiar facial features, those with Down’s syndrome – one child in 1,000 born in the UK has the condition – often have varying degrees of physical and mental disabilities.

With the help of modern medicine, they can live to the age of 50 to 60, often meaning that they need a lifetime of care.

Yet Pam and Gerald’s family insist they can neither understand the fuss people make about the condition, nor the praise people heap on them for doing what they describe as ‘no big deal’.

Pam and Gerald already had two biological children, Emma, then six, and Chris, then two, when in 1985 they adopted James, their first Down’s child. He was just seven months old.

They were fully aware of the task ahead of them. Pam and Gerald had spent much of the 1970s volunteering at the Gateway Club in Birmingham, which caters for children with special needs. Even so, the decision to adopt a disabled child left some friends and family reeling.

‘One family member asked why we were ruining our lives,’ Pam, 60, reflects. ‘They felt we’d ruined our

‘Insults from family – and even a doctor’

biological children’s lives, too. Some of our friends, whose lives had never been touched by special needs, couldn’t understand why we’d done it either. But we chose to adopt knowing that what we were taking on we were taking on for ever – and my older two had no problem.’

Pam has long held a special affection for Down’s children. ‘At school I helped at a special school instead

of doing sport, which I hated,’ she smiles. ‘It’s so rewarding. You get what you put in. They achieve because you put in the effort.’

Today, James has very l i ttle speech but, according to his mother, has a sunny disposition and lives in the moment. ‘We could all learn a lot from him,’ she reflects, no doubt referring to the many critics she has faced down over the years. Pam