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When Laura Whitfield and Nathan Phillips met on the set of a pantomime production of Snow White several years ago, it didn’t take long for them to fall in love with each other. They had both been playing dwarves – Laura was Soppy and Nathan was Grumpy – and now look back on their first meeting as a “perfect fairy-tale start.”
The couple soon got engaged, and not long after, Laura discovered she was pregnant.
Laura recalls, “At first I was advised to consider abortion by the doctors because I was having a few health complications with my pregnancy, however I was determined to see how far we could make it with little Nathan and we both fell in love with him at the first scan.”
Nathan Jr.’s future, however, was far less fairy-tale than his parents’ meeting.
Because Nathan Jr. would be born to two dwarf parents, the doctors didn’t think he would survive. He would be the only “double dwarf” in Britain and had inherited two different types of dwarfism: anachondaplasia from his mother and pseudochondaplasia from his father.
The first few weeks of his life were very “touch and go,” and the doctors still aren’t sure how Nathan Jr. managed to pull through so strongly, but he is now two-and-a-half years old.
Once their son’s health was more stable, Laura and Nathan continued forward with their wedding plans.
They recently got married in front of about 50 of their closest family and friends in, what Laura calls, a “simply magical” wedding.
Nathan Jr. took his spot of honor in the bridal party as the ring bearer and definitely showed how his health has significantly improved since his doctor’s outlook when he was born. “He decided he didn't want to carry [the cushion] any more [sic] and he threw it to the side,” Laura remembers. “It was quite funny and it was really special for us to have him there.”
We’re wishing this new family all the best and good health in their life together.
You can watch a sweet interview of the trio here, where Laura talks about their unconventional proposal:
