A 22-year-old woman who is “stuck” in the body of an 8-year-old said she gets judged every time she wears makeup in public or does things other adults do.
Shauna Rae survived a rare form of brain cancer when she was just six months old – but the side effects of the treatment stopped her growing normally.
In an upcoming show on TLC, she opens up about her stress and struggles living in a 3ft 10in body.
Her childlike appearance has brought negative attention to her and her mum because strangers think she is a child trying to do adult things.
Shauna’s mother Patty said: “Shauna likes to dress up like any other 22-year-old girl, but we go out together and she gets look like ‘oh wow, what is she doing?’, ‘what is that kid doing?’
“And then I get the looks of ‘how could you let your child dress like this?'”
Shauna said: “My mum has to explain that I’m old enough to make my own decisions and they don’t believe her.
“They call her a liar. So that’s not fun.
“I feel horrible for my mum because I don’t have to deal with the backlash because they don’t think it’s appropriate to come up to the child to say these things.