Shea MacDonough, Harry Liston: Couples share their experience dating with Down syndrome

To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day, we spoke to two couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together. Watch the video.

From a couple who have been living their own happily ever after for two years to a smitten family of three, these love birds with Down syndrome say dating is “about love and not their disability”.

To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day, Albury Wodonga News spoke to two couples about how they plan to spend the rest of their lives together.

They say it’s simply about love — and when you know, you just know.

Shea MacDonough and Harry Liston, Essendon

Shea has been dating her boyfriend Harry for two years, and says “we just love being in love, really”.

The Essendon couple met through mutual friends and instantly hit it off.

“If you’ve met the one, and you love that person, you just have that in your heart,” Shea said.

“It’s not about Down syndrome.”

Shea, 35, said to her, love was about finding someone you can share life with.

“It means feeling happy all the time,” Shea said.

Shea said she knew her boyfriend Harry, 28, was “the one” because he treated her like a “princess”.

“He doesn’t see my disability, he sees me as a person. And I do the same.

“People with Down syndrome are just like everyone else.

“It can be hard to find a boyfriend, but if you love someone, just go for it.

“It doesn’t matter if they have a disability or not.”

Shea said when she first began dating she was a bit shy, but she that was to be expected.

“I thought to myself; ‘I’m just going to try it and see how it goes’. And it went pretty good.

“I have friends who have boyfriends and also have Down syndrome. But I don’t see that (their disability) in my friends.

“And I don’t see that in me. And I don’t see that in a boyfriend.”

Shea, 35, works at JB-HIFI and enjoys all things singing, dancing and performing.

Shea said sometimes it could be hard to speak out when you have a disability; but her advice to anyone feeling this way is “just be who you are”.

Shea said relationships should be even.

“Just talk about you, but don’t talk about yourself too much, because you might stumble over your words,” Shea said.

“Try and be patient, be cool, talk to them and ask about their hobbies, or what they like.

“It takes time to get to know someone.

“Don’t be nervous, I know it’s hard but try and be yourself, don’t be anyone else.”

Shea and her boyfriend XX have been together since XX.

Alannah McKeown and Dan Harrowell, Albury Wodonga

Alannah, 25, and her boyfriend Dan, 29, are another loved-up couple from Albury, on the Victorian-NSW border.

After meeting at the cafe they both worked at, Alannah and Dan said they wanted to stay friends first, not rushing into romance.

“I had a bit of a crush on him when he started working at Purple Chicken Cafe,” Alannah said.

“I turned to my friend and said ‘Ugh, I am so in love with this guy.’”

Dan too sensed a spark, and a few months later asked Alannah on their first date.

Alannah and Dan live at their Albury home with their dog Ralph.

“It was on April 4,” Alannah said.

“We went on a lunch date to Downtown Pizzeria and it was a perfect lunch date.”

A week later, Dan got down on one knee and asked Alannah to be his girlfriend.

The couple are now living together in an Albury unit with their dog, Ralph.

Alannah said she’s had boyfriends with and without a disability, but she’s never felt a difference.

Dating since she was 15, she said she had gone through several heartbreaks before finding her “one true love”.

“I’m so in love with Dan,” Alannah said.

“He’s such a great person in and out.

“He’s the greatest boyfriend I’ve ever had.”