FAYE PEARSON: I want people to know that we’re just a nice family of three.
FAYE PEARSON: Yeah, we might be on wheelchairs, but we are not different to them.
FAYE PEARSON: And why does the world not see us capable of being parents? Because at the end of the day,
our little boy is just like any other little boy. He’s happy and he’s very, very much loved.
STEVIE PEARSON: Rowan is definitely a little character. He’s definitely full of energy, very cheeky.
FAYE PEARSON: He’s very quick at learning and he’s starting to speak more and repeating things.
FAYE PEARSON: Rowan is going to be 18 months next month; he’s a very outgoing, funny little boy.
STEVIE PEARSON: He’s definitely got your look in his eye.
FAYE PEARSON: And yeah, he’s definitely got your cheekiness.
STEVIE PEARSON: He’s a real mixture of both of us. FAYE PEARSON: Yeah.
FAYE PEARSON: I was diagnosed with SMA when I was around 18 months old. I would describe SMA as a
weakness; all of my body is quite weak, my arms, my neck muscles, even my breathing and I can't walk at all.
STEVIE PEARSON: DMD stands for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and it's a muscle wasting condition that
affects every organ.
FAYE PEARSON: So, the difference between our disabilities is DMD is more progressive than SMA.
FAYE PEARSON: We met around about 11 years ago and we were playing powerchair football. Stevie was on the
opposing team to me. You know, I’d just seen him across the sports hall and was like, “Oh, he’s a bit of alright.”
STEVIE PEARSON: Well we started off as friends. FAYE PEARSON: Yeah.
STEVIE PEARSON: Yeah, now well, we’ve been married five years.
FAYE PEARSON: And I’m stuck with him.
STEVIE PEARSON: I definitely always wanted children but being with Faye, I never realised that would have
been really possible. But she’s very determined and when she’s got her mind set on something,
then she normally gets it.
FAYE PEARSON: I read an article about someone else with SMA and she carried successfully a child.
It drove me to want to be a mom.
STEVIE PEARSON: And during pregnancy, yeah, it was a little bit scary because knowing the risk of having a baby.
When Faye went down for the caesarean, that was probably the worst wait of my life really.
STEVIE PEARSON: Getting the news that they were both ok was, well I felt on top of the world really.
FAYE PEARSON: Rowan was born, it was the 11th of October 2017.
STEVIE PEARSON: Life after Rowan, it was a little bit of an adjustment but after a day or two, it just felt like he’d
been there for, for years. It just felt really natural.
STEVIE PEARSON: The chances of Rowan getting our disabilities, it definitely played on my mind, but we had
advice from someone and they said that he wouldn’t get our disabilities. The only thing he did inherit was the SMA
gene but that would affect if he had children. But he would get tested for that
FAYE PEARSON: We remain as independent as possible with the help of our carers.
FAYE PEARSON: Obviously in relation to them helping Rowan, everything that they do is instructed by myself or
Stevie and one of us is always present for any of his care. So, whether that be in changing his bum or putting
him in the bath or feeding him, one of us will always be there.
FAYE PEARSON: So parenting isn’t difficult because our guys that we have working for us are all very
understanding and they respect that.
STEVIE PEARSON: The thing that stands out for me most is when Rowan hurts himself and we can't pick him
up to sort of hold him.
That's probably the one thing that I wish I could do, but obviously I’m grateful that they can do that for me.
FAYE PEARSON: The hardest thing for me with Rowan is being able to pick him up and hold him tight and just to
let him know that I’m there for him. Yeah, that’s hard to deal with.
FAYE PEARSON: We’re not classed as normal human beings, like we’re not allowed to have children.
FAYE PEARSON: And we’re not allowed to be able to drive a car or own our own house or work and that’s how
I feel that the public perceive us.
FAYE PEARSON: When we’re out and about in the general public,
people never think that we are Rowan’s parents.
FAYE PEARSON: They always just assume that whoever is with us is either his guardian or his mother or father.
And that’s quite upsetting and it annoys us a little bit, doesn’t it like?
STEVIE PEARSON: Yeah, it does yeah.
FAYE PEARSON: Because what is normal? What I want people to watch this and to know that we’re just a nice
family of three. And yeah, we might be on wheelchairs but we’re no different to them.
FAYE PEARSON: It's nice to watch him grow up and yeah, probably to accept us as his parents and that’s
heart warming and that is ultimately what I wanted. When I started this journey, when I decided I wanted to
be a parent is, “Will my child love me like a child does any other mother?” and the answer is “Yes.”
FAYE PEARSON: We love him so much, and he returns it.
He gives that love back to us and it makes everything worthwhile.
STEVIE PEARSON: It does definitely.
FAYE PEARSON: And it made all of the pain from pregnancy worthwhile.
I’m proud to be his mum and I’m proud of who he’s turning to be.