Richard Wilkins has spoken out today about his decision to place his son in a care home when he was one year old.
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The TV favourite revealed during a chat about World Down Syndrome Day that he sent his firstborn, Adam – now 45 – into care soon after he became a teen dad.
‘I was only 18 when Adam was born, his mum was just 16, very unusual for Down syndrome people to be born to such young parents,’ he says.
‘It was a shock to be a parent let alone of a Down syndrome child.’
While Wilkins has said before he still suffers from feelings of guilt over placing his child into care, he told the show that he just wasn’t ready for the scale of responsibility.
‘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,’ he says.
‘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.’
Wilkins says that Adam has been a blessing, describing his son as ‘my rock’ and ‘an absolute joy.’
Wilkins have five children by four different women. Besides Adam, there is also Rebecca, 35, Nick, 33, Christian, 23, and Estella, 14.
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