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‘We were overweight – but we were loved and happy’: Dundee woman breaks silence on tragic ‘fat family’ legacy

Kerry Ann Anderson and her fiancé, Peter White.

A Dundee woman has broken years of silence over the nightmare she suffered as part of the city’s so-called “fat family.”

Kerry Ann Anderson, 25, has opened up on her childhood agony and the trauma she continues to carry as a result.

Kerry Ann was one of seven children removed from their parents by social services in Dundee in 2011, partly because they were deemed to be overweight.

Their ordeal began three years earlier when dad Andrew Anderson and mum Pamela were told the kids would be taken away if they didn’t lose weight, leading to the “fat family” label.

Kerry Ann Anderson and her fiancé, Peter White.

Kerry Ann was aged just 12, weighing 16 stone, when her life was turned upside down.

A decade on, she has decided to speak publicly for the first time about how being removed from her family affected her.

“What happened to us was a nightmare,” she told The Courier.

“It’s still a nightmare and right now I can’t see any way out of it.”

‘Loved and happy’

She added: “Yes we were overweight but we were loved and happy.

“Our mother was an amazing home cook and we were all fed fantastic home cooked meals every night of the week.

“We also did have portion control but we just ate well.

“My childhood was happy until Dundee social services got involved.

“We should never have been taken away from our parents.

“We were loved and well cared for and then everything was turned on its head – none of it should ever have happened.”

Why were siblings taken into care?

Dundee City Council‘s intervention came after questions were raised over the care provided by Andrew and Pamela Anderson.

The authority monitored the family’s diet as part of a project reportedly causing £114,000.

News reports said Dundee City Council helped manage the family’s diet.

By 2011, the kids were all removed from their parents and taken into care.

Council officers did not go into detail about the case at the time, but insisted a child’s weight would not be the only reason to take him or her into care.

As far is Kerry Ann is concerned, the blame for her trauma lies squarely with the council and to this day she suffers from poor physical and mental health.

Her own baby was also taken into care, just hours after birth.

Kerry Ann says she will fight to get her child back from social workers and believes she is fit to look after it.

“Social workers from the council came to the hospital and told me this was for ‘mental and physical’ reasons,” she said.

“I am in no doubt at all this is because of who I am and what my background and family history is.

“The nightmare that began for me as a child is continuing.

“My child was taken from me in the hospital.  I haven’t been able to see my little one since.”

Kerry Ann with a blanket for her baby.

Kerry Ann assumes her child was taken because she currently weighs 26 stone – she has lost three stone in the past year – and because she has been diagnosed with mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.

“I am under a doctor and on medication,” she said.

“What is causing me upset and distress now is what is happening currently.

“However, I am well and more than capable of caring for my child.”

Kerry Ann looks at the story about her childhood.

Kerry Ann, who lives in the Hilltown area of Dundee, didn’t regain contact with her own mum until she was well into her teens.

But tragedy struck four years ago.

She said: “Mum and I were rebuilding our relationship but then in 2017 she died from leukaemia.

“I was absolutely distraught. I was heartbroken.”

For Kerry Ann and her fiancé Peter White, their focus is now on the fight to get their child back.

“We had everything ready,” said Kerry Ann.

“The pram, clothes and blankets are all at home waiting.

“What has happened is absolutely disgusting. I just want to be a mum to my baby and live the rest of my life happily.

“I want to try to somehow put everything else behind me.”

A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: “We do not comment on individual cases, particularly those involving vulnerable adults and children.”