Mom Joyce Heere, and child models Romy (7yrs) & Mauro (9yrs)

Joyce Heere is mom to two children, Mauro (9 yrs) and Romy who has Down syndrome (7yrs) they live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Joyce is a single mom and her two children love to model and act. Romy goes to a regular elementary school in Amsterdam where she has got lots of friends. Since the day Romy was born, she loves to be the centre of attention. She loves to be photographed and model. Her brother was signed with a model agency but sadly all of the big agencies in Holland have refused Romy because of her Down syndrome. But this is not stopping her from dreaming.

Scrolling through instagram I was stopped in my tracks by a beautiful image of Romy and contacted Joyce to find out more about this little girl with star quality. Romy’s hobbies are dancing, playing with friends, swimming, horseriding and of course modelling and acting. Her role models are Madeline stuart and Makayla Holmgren.

A message from mom Joyce:

We sincerely hope that we contribute to a positive reflection for people with Down syndrome and/ or other disabillaties. Because these people can achieve so much more, but do not get a fair chance. We hope that one day people will see the possibilaties instead of the disabillaties.

We do not have an ultimate goal besides having a lot of fun and love for what she does. It would be great if one day she could do something big, or international that would break all the rules. To make a statement that everyone is beautiful in their own unique way. Romy has now been chosen to be a model at black fashion week, and we are very proud.

I am a kind but a strict mom (I hope). Because I raise them all alone I try to bring my up my children as strong and independent as possible. Because of her Down syndrome I  think she wil never become completely independent.

The last wardrobe item I got for my kids are printed T-shirts with the text ‘The lucky few’. I also got a ‘lucky few’ tattoo with several other mommys here in Holland. These mothers also have a child with DS. We consider ourselves the lucky fews.

Afterword: Today is International children’s day. Romy is part of the patchwork that make up the diverse landscape our children populate. It would be great to see the children’s fashion industry embrace this by positively reflecting beauty in all it’s forms to an audience which is ready and looking for a true reflection of us all.

Support and follow Romy &  brother Mauro through their social media feeds below:

@romyheere
@mauroheere