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Harry Judd’s wife Izzy has spoken about being ‘overwhelmed’ after one of their children was diagnosed with being ‘neurodivergent’.
The McFly drummer, 39, has been married to former Escala violinist Brittany ‘Izzy’ Johnston since 2012.
The couple have three children together- daughter Lola, eight, and sons Kit, seven and Lockie, three.
However, this week Izzy revealed they’d been facing an ‘incredibly challenging’ situation.
Although she didn’t share which child had been diagnosed, she posted a video on Instagram explaining to her 316,000 followers that she and her husband had been ‘learning how to parent’ their neurodivergent child over the past few years.
‘I wanted to share something with you that I have not talked about on here. So, for the last few years I have been learning how to parent a neurodivergent child,’ she began.
‘It has been all consuming, incredibly challenging, I’ve felt very overwhelmed and like I’ve been thrown into a world where I have no qualifications and there is very little support, I just have this desire to talk about it and it’s pretty similar to how I felt when I recorded Let’s Talk Fertility all those years ago,’ she continued, referencing a fertility podcast she previously presented amid her IVF struggles.
‘And however scary it was to open up about out personal struggles I soon realised I was far from alone.’
She then announced another project to help other parents.
‘So, I have decided to continue the Let’s Talk series with Let’s Talk Neurodivergent Kids which is a podcast where I will be speaking to experts and parents.’
Captioning the post, Izzy also wrote: ‘I wanted to share something with you that I haven’t talked about on here. It’s a personal and challenging subject and one that feels daunting to open up about’.
‘However, I really feel that awareness, education and kindness is needed for our brilliant neurodivergent kids. I felt pretty nervous to share our fertility struggles all those years ago but after releasing the podcast ‘Let’s Talk Fertility’ I soon realised I was far from alone’.
‘So, I’ve decided to continue the series with Let’s Talk Neurodivergent Kids, launching on the 28th April. I really hope it will provide a community and a safe space for anyone else experiencing the complexities of raising neurodivergence. I can’t wait to share more about the episodes with you soon. In the meantime, do come and follow me over at @letstalkndkids Love Izzy.’
The term neurodivergent encompasses conditions like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia.
Izzy has been open about her fertility journey in the past, suffering a miscarriage in 2014 after her first round of IVF.
Their second attempt led to Izzy falling pregnant with Lola and they later conceived Kit and Lockie naturally.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk about adjusting to motherhood back in 2017, she said: ‘When you experience IVF or fertility problems, so much of your focus is on getting pregnant that you don’t give that much thought to how your life is really going to change when you become a mum.
‘I think having gone through IVF, you sort of have a guilt. You don’t want to complain about anything related to being a mum because it’s desperately what you want, and what so many other women want. If you’re having a tough day you almost feel guilty for finding it tough.’
‘Especially when Lola was first born, I did struggle with it a little bit – why wasn’t I in this complete blissful bubble? But it’s overwhelming when you’re responsible for this tiny little being – your life changes completely.’
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