NOT many people have heard of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).
But in the Birch household, it's a condition that had already affected five members of the family.
Mum Sharon has it.
So do her three children Elizabeth, 11, Matthew, 10, and Samantha, eight, as well as her sister Susan.
But what is EDS?
Usually connective tissues support parts of the body such as the skin and muscles and provide the glue that holds us together.
But with EDS the collagen that gives strength and elasticity to connective tissue is faulty. As a result skin is extremely stretchy, fragile and bruises easily and joints are loose and can dislocate easily.
Not only that, but blood vessels can be easily damaged and, rarely, internal organs can rupture.
Sharon said: "The best way to describe it, in the long term, is that I feel like I have been put together wrong."
She was forced to quit her job as a police officer after 20 years in the force because she was vulnerable to injury.
She said: "I snapped my hamstring just doing exercise – I was only stretching"
Not only that but Sharon, 41, lives through the pain of constant dislocations.
She said: "I dislocate my big toe almost every time I take my shoe off – it's excruciating."
Samantha and Elizabeth suffer from heart defects while Elizabeth and Matthew suffer from acid refluxes because of a faulty valve in their stomachs.
Matthew has up to 20 nose bleeds a day and was originally diagnosed with dyspraxia because of his clumsiness.
Sharon said: "Dyspraxia is linked to EDS. The brain thinks that joints should be in a certain place so it is sending a signal to where it thinks the joints, but because of the lax ligaments they are not there and so the message is not getting through properly."
It was only when Matthew cut himself and bled for over an hour that the family's true condition was discovered in 2004.
Sharon said: "It was because his vessels and veins were more fragile as a result of the disorder."
Doctors originally tested him for haemophilia but through more tests diagnosed the family with EDS.
Sharon, of The Green in Seaton Carew, said: "It worried me but it was a relief in a way because it was the missing piece of the jigsaw and I had lived with it all my life so there was no reason why we all couldn't."
But the condition has impacted on their lives and they have had numerous failed holiday attempts. In 2002 both girls had a leaky valve in their hearts that stopped the family from going on their dream holiday to Florida.
The trip was again thwarted in Christmas 2005 when Sharon dislocated her knee.
She said: "There are regular screams in the house but you learn to deal with it."
Husband Stephen, 50, a policeman, who Sharon met in the force, is a rock for the family who depend on his support.
Stephen said: "I don't see myself as a hero that comes to the rescue because it has become part everyday life.
"The worst thing for me is watching Sharon suffer.
"She is becoming more limited."
Sharon's sister, Suzi Yeniceri, 34, returned to Hartlepool from a life in Turkey – where she lived and worked for 10 years – to get treatment for the condition.
Sharon said: "In Turkey the condition is even rarer so she had to come back.
"She is now wants to look at starting a family but has to think 'is this the right thing for me?' because there is a risk of passing it on."
The family now try and live life as normally as possible.
The children, who attend Red House School in Norton, continue to do activities and Matthew regularly plays rugby with his mum watching on the sidelines.
Sharon said: "I do worry if he takes a knock."