Woman with rare condition that 'makes her look like an 8-year-old' explains why she keeps boyfriend's identity hidden

 

Woman with rare condition that 'makes her look like an 8-year-old' explains why she keeps boyfriend's identity hidden

Shauna Rae Lesick had her own TLC reality show called I Am Shauna Rae

A woman who says she's 'stuck in the body of an eight-year-old' has shared why she hasn't publicly identified her boyfriend.

Shauna Rae Lesick may look like a elementary school student, but she's actually 26.

Shauna Rae found fame after starring on her own TLC reality TV show called I Am Shauna Rae, which looked into her unique life.

Released in 2022, Shauna Rae said in the trailer that was shared at the time: "I am a 22-year-old woman stuck in the body of an 8-year-old."

When she was 16, Shauna Rae received the news that she'd stopped growing — something she described as a 'difficult time'.

Shauna Rae, 26, is the same size as an eight-year-old child (thereal_shaunarae99/Instagram)

Speaking to PEOPLE, she shared: "It probably was the lowest time of my life, because I always imagined that I would be tall. And getting that news, it just kind of was like a hammer crashing into glass."

Shauna Rae continued: "I kind of isolated myself in a way so I could find myself and be happy with who I am, because at the time I wasn't happy with who I was.

"I started doing online school, and I just really focused on me and what I wanted to do, and who I was as a person, and bettering myself."

TLC star Shauna Rae has pituitary dwarfism (thereal_shaunarae99/Instagram)

As to what caused Shauna Rae to stop growing, it comes after she was diagnosed with brain cancer as a child.

While she went on to beat the disease, her cancer and treatment damaged her pituitary gland (the part of the body which affects growth).

The official term for what the 26-year-old has is pituitary dwarfism.

Shauna Rae has remained in the public eye since the debut of her show three years ago, and recently appeared on the The Unplanned Podcast, hosted by Abby and Matt Howard.

In the interview, Shauna Rae was asked about her current relationship and why she hasn't revealed his identity.

"Neither one of us care if his face is out there," she insisted.

"I more worry because he has a nice job. I don’t want anything bad going to the job. The job knows who I am, they know what I do for my living, they love me."

Shauna Rae went on to share: "But with everything that social media is and everything I know my boyfriend isn’t, I just don’t want him to be labelled something and him not be my partner forever.

"At this point, unless I’m marrying him, or spending my rest of my life with him, his face isn’t going to be shown."