Charlie and Milo McConnel are three-year-old twins who have already achieved Insta-fame. The fraternal twin brothers, along with mom Julie, are using their Instagram and Facebook pages as platforms to raise Down syndrome awareness.
Charlie and Milo—affectionately known on social media by their adorable nicknames “Chuckles and Meatloaf”—have over 21,000 Instagram followers and 9,000 more on Facebook. Even though their social media accounts have grown to pretty epic proportions, mom, Julie, didn’t originally plan to use her accounts as awareness platforms.
McConnel began her twins’ FB for the same reason many other mamas do: to provide friends and family with updates on the kids. But she didn’t stop there. The mom of six told The TODAY Show, “I just wanted it to be more of a way to share, ‘This is our life’ and this is what it’s really like to grow up and have twins in your home with Down syndrome.”
McConnel went on to explain, “Because that’s what I wanted to know when I got the diagnosis—what is this life really, really, really like? I don’t just want to see rainbows and butterflies and miracles every day.”
After learning during her pregnancy that her twins have Down syndrome, McConnel found help and a way to connect with other parents in her position—both IRL and online. This includes a family in Scotland, who she met via social media, who also have fraternal twins with Down syndrome.
As her boys’ social media pages grow and reach more people, the mama hopes her experiences can help others too: “I have these children who are so remarkable and so unique and so special. I feel like I have them for a purpose and that I could be for someone else what these twins in Scotland were for me. Pay it forward, right?”
—Erica Loop
Featured photo: Chuckles and Meatloaf via Instagram
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