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Susan Boyle was born in Blackburn, Scotland. Her father, Patrick Boyle, was a storeman at the British Leyland factory in Bathgate, and her mother, Bridget Boyle, a shorthand typist; her parents were Irish immigrants. The youngest in a family of four brothers and six sisters, of whom only six survive, Boyle was born when her mother was 47. The Sunday Times writes that it was a difficult birth, during which Boyle was briefly deprived of oxygen. She was diagnosed as having learning difficulties, which led to bullying. She was labelled “Susie Simple” at school but learnt to overcome those who made fun of her.