To the outside world, they may look different from everyone else.
But for the Johnston family, the only difference between them and everyone else is that they are a little smaller.
Amber and Trent Johnson, from Barnesville, Georgia, and their five children are the largest family of achondroplasia dwarfs, with a type of dwarfism that affects the extremities.
From left: Sisters Elizabeth and Ana, husband Trent and wife Amber, brother Jonah and sister Emma, and Alex from South Korea.
They call themselves 'the real life seven dwarfs' and embrace their size, and say they 'strive to raise their children in the world that's not built for them'.
Speaking to Barbara Walters for tonight's ABC's 20/20, the Johnstons explain why they go to extremes to try to keep things normal for their five children.
Instead of adapting their home to fit the family, who are no more than four feet tall, they instead encourage their children to overcome the hurdles - for example, placing step stools to help them reach cupboards and attaching sticks to light switches.
Trent and Amber met at a little people's convention, dated for almost four years and married. Five months later Amber was pregnant.
Trent came from a family of dwarfs, but Amber's family were full size. They knew there was a possibility that their first child could be full size, but at 31 weeks discovered Jonah also had achondroplasia dwarfism.
They were very happy as they wanted kids who were 'like them', they said.
The birth of their second biological child Elizabeth was very traumatic for Amber - at one point she was only 48 inches tall but measured 51 inches around.
They both wanted a big family, but instead of putting Amber at any more risk with another traumatic pregnancy they decided to adopt to extend their brood of dwarfs.
Read more (includes pictures): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...chondroplasia-dwarfs-world.html#ixzz1tzzPoiIe
They are truly an inspiration and they all look so happy. Bless them for adopting 3 children that nobody else wanted.
But for the Johnston family, the only difference between them and everyone else is that they are a little smaller.
Amber and Trent Johnson, from Barnesville, Georgia, and their five children are the largest family of achondroplasia dwarfs, with a type of dwarfism that affects the extremities.
From left: Sisters Elizabeth and Ana, husband Trent and wife Amber, brother Jonah and sister Emma, and Alex from South Korea.
They call themselves 'the real life seven dwarfs' and embrace their size, and say they 'strive to raise their children in the world that's not built for them'.
Speaking to Barbara Walters for tonight's ABC's 20/20, the Johnstons explain why they go to extremes to try to keep things normal for their five children.
Instead of adapting their home to fit the family, who are no more than four feet tall, they instead encourage their children to overcome the hurdles - for example, placing step stools to help them reach cupboards and attaching sticks to light switches.
Trent and Amber met at a little people's convention, dated for almost four years and married. Five months later Amber was pregnant.
Trent came from a family of dwarfs, but Amber's family were full size. They knew there was a possibility that their first child could be full size, but at 31 weeks discovered Jonah also had achondroplasia dwarfism.
They were very happy as they wanted kids who were 'like them', they said.
The birth of their second biological child Elizabeth was very traumatic for Amber - at one point she was only 48 inches tall but measured 51 inches around.
They both wanted a big family, but instead of putting Amber at any more risk with another traumatic pregnancy they decided to adopt to extend their brood of dwarfs.
Read more (includes pictures): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...chondroplasia-dwarfs-world.html#ixzz1tzzPoiIe
They are truly an inspiration and they all look so happy. Bless them for adopting 3 children that nobody else wanted.
