Celebrating his uniqueness! Zach Roloff and Tori Roloff’s eldest son, Jackson, is starting to become aware of his physical differences — but his parents won’t let that slow him down.
“I feel like Jackson (and others) are starting to notice that something is different about him,” Tori, 31, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, April 19. “At Jackson’s first soccer game, the other team was asking why he was so small. Purely out of curiosity, I believe — not bullying or being malicious — just curious. It stuck with him enough to tell me on the sideline though. I told him, ‘That’s how God made you, now show them how fast you are!’ He then proceeded to score a goal, and I can’t tell you how stoked we were.”
She continued: “He’s starting to notice that he’s different and that’s hard to cope with — however, I WANT him to know he’s different. But maybe not in the way he thinks he is.”
The Little People, Big World stars, who wed in 2015, are the proud parents to Jackson, 5, Lilah, 3, and Josiah, 11 months. All three little ones — similarly to Zach, 32, and his parents, Matt Roloff and Amy Roloff — have been diagnosed with achondroplasia, which is a form of short-limb dwarfism.
“Jackson, I pray that you notice that you are different. That God has set you apart from all other people,” Tori continued in her Wednesday post, penning a message to her firstborn. “I pray you’re different in how you see and love others. I pray that you’re different in the choices you make to keep God close to your heart. I pray you’re different in how you solve problems and arguments. I pray that you think differently about how the world works and adaptations that can be made.”
She added: “I pray you see your differences and use them to change the world. You are different, kid. Different than any kid I’ve ever met. You are one of a kind and I am so stinking proud to be your mom. I love this kid so much, and pretty stoked my pep talk got him his first soccer goal!”
Zach and Tori, who welcomed baby No. 3 in April 2022, previously opened up to Us Weekly about teaching Jackson about his physical differences.
“I was watching dwarf soccer — a bunch of dwarfs play in a game on YouTube — and [Jackson] goes, ‘Why are those players so short?” Zach exclusively recalled to Us in May 2022, noting his son doesn’t always realize his diagnosis. “And he was looking at some fans with the coaching staff. He’s like, ‘Those players are tall, you know?’ And I was like, well, those players have dwarfism. They’re like you and I.’”
Jackson previously underwent a surgical procedure in November 2021 to correct the bowing in his legs, which was a result of his achondroplasia.
“He is doing great. Everything’s great,” the TLC dad told Us in May 2022, explaining that screws were put into Jackson’s legs “so as he grows, the legs will straighten.” Zach added: “It’s not an overnight fix if you will.”
While the pair’s three children all have dwarfism, Zach and Tori have made it clear that their diagnoses are not their entire identities.
“Just like I’m Tori, I have brown hair,” the photographer told Us that May. “I’m not a brunette — like, that’s not how I would classify myself. … [Achondroplasia is] so normal to us. We have so many resources and there’s a lot of parents out there who don’t have the same resources and … don’t have the same confidence in everything that Zach and I do.”
