Ellie Simmonds sobs over birth mother's confession that leaves viewers 'broken-hearted'

viewers have been left "heart-broken" after watching an emotional conversation unfold between and her birth mother on television in her deeply personal new documentary, Should I Have Children? The award-winning Paralympian's film explores her hopes and fears around parenthood, asking what it would mean for her if she were to have a child who inherited the genes for dwarfism.

While figuring out what her own journey towards motherhood would look like, Simmonds decides to contact her biological mum and ask why she ultimately decided to give Ellie up for adoption. Viewers were moved by the heart-wrenching conversation, which brought Ellie herself to tears.

Her mum, whose identity has been protected by the athlete, opened up about the insensitive way Ellie's condition was first explained to her. She shared: "We went to a geneticist and she was very abrupt. Said 'There you go, that's what your baby is going to look like.' I remember coming back thinking, I can't cope with this."

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She also described the emotional turmoil she was already in after giving birth, saying: "You're physically not right, you're mentally not right, it's a hard time to make a decision about anything. There was a lot in the background going on. I'd given birth on my own."

Ellie's mum then admitted that her disability became "all I could see". She added: "I grieved the child that I thought you should have been. It was absolutely horrendous. I left you and you were my baby. I just handed you over."

The mother then broke down over the phone, confessing: "You really could never get over the guilt. The guilt was horrendous. So you live with it all the time. It's something that you'll have that you'll never forget. I thought about you every day. I think sometimes it was quite cowardly, to be honest."

Although Ellie herself stayed quiet as her mum opened up, she could be seen brushing tears away from her eyes. Viewers were quick to comment on the emotional conversation, with one taking to social media to say: "Ellie Simmonds is breaking my heart."

Another person encouraged her to take more time to think about whether or not to go ahead with having a baby, adding: "You just started the research now and need time to think about what you discover. It's a huge decision, so take your time. Good luck!"

Ellie seemed overcome with emotion while on the phone to her birth mother, but she later reflected on the encounter in a voiceover, saying: "It seems like she held that guilt for a long time. That's sad isn't it? We put a lot of pressure on the mum in society. It's amazing that she's so honest and open talking about what she went through."

The Paralympian was adopted by Steve and Val Simmonds when she was three months old, and grew up with four older siblings. She had a happy childhood in Aldridge, and the couple supported her with all of her sporting endeavours from a young age. 

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