Tori Roloff never let height factor into her relationship with husband Zach Roloff.
The Little People, Big World cast member, who is of typical height, opened up about being married to a man with dwarfism in a touching Instagram post in which she challenges the generalization that in heterosexual relationships, the man has to be taller than the woman.
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“So I was wandering Target…as I do…when I heard a man say to his wife, ‘Well at least I’m taller than you.’ And the wife responded with, ‘Well I would hope so,” she captioned a photo from her 2015 wedding. “Some of us just have the idea of beauty and love so backwards. It doesn’t come from outward appearances but rather from inner beauty.”
She continues: ” I don’t love Zach because of how he looks (although he is quite handsome if I do say so myself) but rather what things weigh on his heart. It doesn’t matter to me that I’m taller than my husband. Honestly, it gives me an excuse to never wear heels. Ever. I can’t imagine my life if I had never given my husband a chance because he was shorter than me. Love people because of their minds. Not their bodies.”
The couple has been open about what it’s like to navigate life with dwarfism, as well as their plans to parent 8-month-old Jackson, who has achondroplasia, the same form of dwarfism as his father.
“You have to encourage a dwarf child a little more because it will take them five steps to do what others can do in two,” Zach told PEOPLE soon after his son was born. “But I knew, dwarf or not, I was going to parent my child with the mentality that not everyone gets a trophy. You have to earn it.”
Zach knows the genetic disorder will make Jackson’s life more difficult, but “I want people to know that he’s just like his dad: being a dwarf is just part of the whole package of who he is.”
Zach and Tori both knew that there was a 50% chance of their son inheriting achondroplasia and found out his diagnosis at their 34-week ultrasound.
“We knew our chances of having a dwarf, but it didn’t matter,” Tori said. “We just knew we wanted to be parents, however God wanted it to happen.”
The couple hopes their son will grow up to become a caring, thoughtful and good person.
“Whatever he wants to do in life, we’re going to find a way to help him do it,” says Zach. “That’s our job in life now.”
