When Adrien Agreste turned a year old, Gabriel Agreste realized something was wrong. His son couldn't hear a word he said. His wife, Catherine, didn't mind, her parents and siblings were also deaf. Gabriel started to get treatments for his son so his son could hear properly. The treatments only made his hearing worse. Outraged, Gabriel spent less and less time with his wife, only to have a daughter a year later. She, like her older brother, had hearing problems, but fell into the mild to moderate range.
Gabriel ordered a divorce from his wife and gave her custody of her daughter. He then proceeded to homeschool Adrien, calling him an "embarrassment" to the family name. Only select photographers were allowed to take pictures of the young Agreste and no interviews were ever conducted.
Adrien didn't mind. At least, not until he met Marinette/Ladybug. He wanted to hear Marinette's laugh in his ears. Fortunately, he could hear as Cat Noir, but it still wasn't enough.
Eventually, Adrien and Marinette began dating and got married. None of their children had hearing loss, but Adrien had never heard their voices or their laughs.
Only on his death bed did he hear Marinette's response to a pun he tried to make.
"I love you too my silly kitty."
