They met, fell in love and got married. Then, just like couples everywhere, Simon and Vicky Moore decided it was time to have a baby.

However the UK couple had to defend their decision due to the fact Mr Moore has Treachers Collins Syndrome (TCS), a genetic condition which the couple's baby would have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting.

Despite criticisms, Mr and Mrs Moore went on to have baby Alice, who was born with the same condition as her father.

Alice, now 15 months, has inherited her father's Treacher's Collins syndrome.

They have been called "selfish" for choosing not to have their embryos genetically tested for TCS during the IVF process, and last week appeared on a television talk show to defend themselves and their family.

"It's natural for every couple to have a baby together. Why should we be different?" Mrs Moore said when the family appeared on ITV'sThis Morning programme.

"We've had all sorts of comments and it is the bad things that get to you.

"Even before we had Alice people would stop in the street and go 'urgh' right in front of [my husband's] face. People would say 'What are you doing with a muppet like him?'

"But he's a teacher so he's probably more intelligent a lot of people out there."

TCS affects one in 50,000 births and can cause underdeveloped bones, particularly facial bones. Ear anomalies can cause hearing problems, and breathing and airway difficulties are common.

Mrs Moore has three older daughters from a previous relationship and had been sterilised before meeting Mr Moore in a sign language class.

As they had to use fertility treatment to conceive, the couple could have had pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to check which embryos had inherited Mr Moore's condition and which had not.

Mrs Moore said there were several reasons they chose not to have PGD.

"We had genetic counselling for a year and half and we could have had PGD," she said on This Morning.

"It was much more money (PGD would have cost the couple $17,000) and a two-and-a-half hour journey away from our house, because we had to go to London. There were more cons than there were pros."

Mr and Mrs Moore also chose not to terminate the pregnancy after ultrasounds detected the condition.

Mr Moore explained that although it was difficult growing up with TCS, he was not worried about his daughter having it.

"What Alice does have in common with me is fantastic parents," he said on This Morning.

"My mum and dad would never treat me any differently. They would never treat us any differently. If there was any new treatment mum and dad would straight away tell me about it. They'd say 'it's there if you want it. If you don't like it, leave it'."

Alice, who is now 15 months old and slept through her television appearance, has a much milder form of TCS than her father.

She has malformed ears and will need a hearing aid fitted, and her high palate makes feeding difficult and time consuming.

But her parents say any decisions about plastic surgery will be left for their daughter to make in the future.

"She'll have an operation to anchor her hearing aid into her skull," Mrs Moore said.

"It will be her decision later on if she wants to go for plastic surgery and have proper ears done."

But regardless of what surgery she does or does not have, there is one thing Mr Moore is certain about - his daughter will always be made aware of how beautiful she is.

"There's nothing on this planet anywhere near as special as Alice. She's changed my life," he said in an earlier interview with the Daily Mail.

"There's no doubt about it. She's her dad's little girl and I will tell her she is beautiful every day."