Following the BAFTA winning success of Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family, Ellie is returning to ITV1 and STV…
In her latest programme Ellie embarks on a deeply personal journey, asking, given the potential for her children to share her disability, should she have children?
Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual ITV:
“We’re so pleased that Ellie is making this insightful and deeply personal film for us. Packed with emotional human narratives and layered with potent dilemmas, this is a film that will shed new light on a significant story of our times with the power both to move us and make us all think: ‘What do we feel? What would we do?'”
In this revealing documentary, Ellie fearlessly confronts the often difficult and emotionally fraught decisions she would, and expectant parents do, face when they are told that their child may be born with a disability. Asking the questions to help future parents navigate this very emotional journey and what they would do if faced with these life changing decisions.
At the heart of the film is Ellie’s personal journey, as she asks, ‘Should I have children and what would that look like?’ For Ellie, this isn’t just about what society thinks, but about her own questions, fears, dreams and her belief in equality for Disabled people. Is she fully prepared to navigate a pregnancy? And what would it mean for a child of hers to be born disabled or non-disabled? Seen through Ellie’s eyes, this raw, intimate and revealing film tackles a subject that we’ve rarely seen on our screens.
Powered by Ellie’s own quest, she explores the choices around prenatal testing, the implications of those decisions for parents and the evolving societal perceptions of disability over the past few decades. The film will show the impact of these decisions through Ellie’s eyes as she meets parents faced with life-changing choices.
Through carefully obtained access to one of the UK’s leading Foetal Medicine Units, Ellie gains unprecedented access to families who are navigating the often challenging decision-making process that comes with a prenatal diagnosis of disability. She will explore the possible assumption that a life as a Disabled person is one of limitation and question whether the representation of people like herself in the public eye has brought down barriers.
Ellie will meet with doctors, geneticists, cardiologists, midwives and counsellors who guide these families, exploring the emotional weight of the decision and the complexities involved. Decisions that she herself will have to consider in the future if she wants children. And decisions every one of us might one day face ourselves.
Ellie Simmonds:
“Now having the understanding of what my birth mother and so many others experienced 30 years ago when it came to disability and pregnancy, I want to see how things have changed for parents today. I also want to challenge some of the perceptions that exist today about children born with disabilities. It’s a deeply personal subject to me, and I’m just so grateful to all those who have let me embark on what are deeply personal and emotional journeys of their own.”
Ellie Simmonds: Should I have Children? will air on ITV1 and STV, and stream on STV Player and ITVX
