Heartbreaking moment Ellie Simmonds wipes away tears as she talks to her birth mum about why she put her up for adoption

Scottish Sun

28-05-2025

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ELLIE Simmonds was seen wiping away tears as she bravely listened to her birth mum reveal why she was put up for adoption.
The Paralympian gold medalist, 30, was put into care at two weeks old after being diagnosed with dwarfism.
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Ellie Simmonds was seen wiping tears away while she talked to her birth mother on her new ITV doc
Credit: ITV
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Ellie was fostered at the age of three months after being put into care at two weeks old
Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
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Ellie's adoptive parents Steve and Val Simmonds
Credit: Business Live
When Ellie was just three months old, she was adopted by West Midlands couple Val and Steve Simmonds.
She only met her birth mother two years ago, after the swimmer explored her childhood in the 2023 documentary, Finding My Secret Family.
In a follow to the Bafta winning doc, last night viewers watched Ellie Simmonds: Should I Have Children?.
At the end of the powerful documentary brave Ellie chatted to her birth mother - who has remained anonymous - on the phone.
The Strictly Come Dancing star wanted to finally ask her why she gave her up for adoption.
Before she made the phone call, Ellie said to the camera: "In the two years since we've met, I haven't felt ready to talk to my birth mum about the reasons she placed me up for adoption."
Her birth mother was then heard for the first time on TV, as she didn't appear on the first documentary.
She then bravely talked about the impact of having Ellie adopted, and the devastating reason why she felt she had to make that decision.
Remaining off camera, she said: "It's really quite traumatic. It's hard for you to hear. I don't want to in any way upset you.
"You're making a decision at the wrong time of your life, because you've just given birth, your hormones are all over the place. You're physically not right, you're mentally not right."
Ellie Simmonds Finding My Secret Family viewers break down in tears as she meets her birth mum for the first time
Ellie's birth mum then revealed how after her daughter was diagnosed with dwarfism, cruel medics at the time said this would lead to ridicule
"I went to a geneticist and she was very abrupt," she recalled.
"She said, 'There you go, that's what your baby's going to look like.'
"I remember coming back thinking, 'I don't know, I can't cope with this.'
"It could have been explained in a nicer manner, because that was my life, you know, that was your life, that was us.
"I mean, maybe there was no answers they could have given me, or maybe I wanted a magic wand."
As she recalled this story for the first time, Ellie could be seen wiping away tears.
Her birth mum candidly revealed how she struggled to look beyond Ellie's disability and said she "grieved" for the child she wanted her to be.
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Ellie bravely listened to her birth mother recalling her adoption story
Credit: ITV
"To give your biological child away… it was momentous," she explained.
"I just handed you over and that's something you really can never get over.
"The guilt is horrendous. You live with it all the time."
MEETING HER MUM
Ellie met her birth mum for the first time at the end of her 2023 documentary.
The reunion came after the Paralympian read an old letter handwritten by her mother in which she said she wished she'd had an abortion or that Ellie had died.
With a social worker acting as an intermediary, Ellie wrote to her mum explaining she wasn't angry and that she wanted to get to know her.
She sobbed as she read her mum's reply in which she said she had suffered with "guilt and self-hatred".
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She won two gold medals at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing
Credit: PA
Ellie then went to meet her mum for the first time - but this wasn't filmed.
Afterwards she said: "It was amazing. We spoke about everything over the last five hours. We've got the same sense of humour we were laughing so much.
"I felt like her face was just like me. What touched my heart was that she thinks about me everyday and she always sees me as a daughter."
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Ellie also took part in Strictly in 2022
Credit: PA
'AMAZING' LIFE
Despite tearful moments in both documentaries, Ellie maintains she has had an 'amazing life' and has never felt anger towards her biological mum.
She previously told us: 'I wouldn't be who I am today if my birth mother hadn't made that decision.
"I could be someone so different and not have had such a positive life, being around people with different disabilities and going to the Paralympics and having all the opportunities my parents gave me.'
Ellie's parents Val and Steve Simmonds adopted four other children, some of which also had disabilities.
At 11, Ellie moved with Val to Swansea to train with Team GB.
Two years later she became the youngest British athlete at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, winning two swimming golds.