‘I’m 22 but look eight due to rare condition – I can’t wear makeup in public’

A 22-year-old woman who is "stuck" in the body of an eight-year-old said she gets judged every time she wears makeup in public.

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 at the speed a normal youngster her age would do.

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 – even if she puts on makeup to look mature.

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 shared her thoughts and revealed how people's comments affect her.

"My mum has to explain that I'm old enough to make my own decisions and they don't believe her," she explains while putting mascara on her eyelashes.

"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.

"They think it's appropriate for them to come up to the mother, which isn't appropriate at all in my opinion."

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Shauna, who said she is a "woman stuck in the body of an 8-year-old", tried to do different things to prove to herself that she is an adult.

"I started vaping to look older. I've always been attracted to edgy kind of lifestyle – tattoos, piercing, vaping," she continues.

"But doing anything adult-esque wasn't to show anybody that I'm an adult, it's to prove to myself that I am an adult.

"It makes me feel I am who I want to be."

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