Richard Wilkins reflects on raising a son with down syndrome: “It was a shock”
Today show host Richard Wilkins has reflected on what it was like raising a son with down syndrome.
He spoke to Today Extra on Thursday and revealed why he was forced to send his first son, Adam, 45, into care in New Zealand. Adam was only a baby when this happened.
Wilkins said on World Down Syndrome day:
”I was only 18 when Adam was born [and] his mum was just 16, very unusual for down syndrome people to be born to such young parents ... It was a shock to be a parent let alone of a down syndrome child.”
Wilkins then goes onto say that he put Adam in a home with “some reluctance”.
“I was getting on with my life and career, I wanted to travel the world and make music and do that sort of stuff, and it was with some reluctance that after about a year we put Adam in a home.
“People said you can have him adopted. But I thought 'he is always going to be my son' and I want a relationship with him. He has had great people in his life over the years.”
In 2014, Wilkins revealed that he still feels guilty for putting his first son into a home. He told The Daily Mail:
“I still feel guilty for not being there all the time and for not being the pin-up boy for father of the year.
“He's happy and healthy and living in New Zealand, but he wouldn't be if it wasn't for people who had helped us along the way.
“I was still there for him any day of the week, but I had to relinquish everyday care to others.”
Did you know Richard Wilkins had a son with Down Syndrome? Let us know in the comments.