Britain's Most Loving Family

For Pam Patterson, adopting children with Down’s syndrome has only made her life richer.

- Clare Berrett & Eleanor Sharples

When I tell people about my family, they always say the same thing – that what I’ve done is extraordinary. of course, as a mother I couldn’t be more proud of my children. But to me, I’ve not done anything exceptional, we’re just a normal family who love each other.

My husband Gerald and I hadn’t always planned to adopt. After marrying in 1977, we had our daughter, Emma, two years later, followed by our son Chris, in 1983. For two years, life was blissful, Gerald working as a police officer, while I was a nurse. But as the children got older, we dreamt of having another baby. Only, both pregnancies had been so tough that I didn’t want to put my body through that again.

So in 1985, we decided to apply to become adoptive parents. There were a lot of questions to be asked first though, like whether we could love a child that wasn’t biologically ours? Adoption was a lifelong commitment. But the more we discussed it, the more we knew we wanted to give a child in need a loving home.

And, more than that, we wanted to adopt a child with Down’s syndrome.

Enriching our lives

Both Gerald and I had a lot of experience with the condition, having volunteered with a local youth club for children with special needs since we were young.

It had become such a huge part of our lives. So when we told our family and friends what we were considering doing, they weren’t surprised. It made perfect sense for us. We already knew by adopting a child with the condition, our lives would be enriched at the same time.