A woman trapped inside a child’s body, this sounds like a movie you may have watched, but this is the reality of 20-year-old Laxmi Yadev, from Gurgaon, Delhi. She is a woman who cannot grow, she weighs just 19kg, she’s 3 feet 5 inches tall and wears clothes meant for six-year-olds. This is all due to a rare genetic disorder she has, which stopped her growth at age five.
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She’s watched her friends grow to be women, but she hasn’t changed since the age of five. Laxmi has dealt with years and years of bullying and people staring at her. Laxmi admits that the hardest thing she’s had to overcome is the future she is denied due to her condition. She cannot have children, so she doesn’t believe there is a reason to get married at all. Additionally, she reveals that she is scared of trusting any man in a marriage, she fears that she will be disowned in the marriage.
What it feels like
“I sometimes think about the normal life I could have had and it makes me sad. I’d have fun and independence and enjoy a life I see other girls having.” She said to the Sunday People. She is scared to go out alone because of the massive number of threats she has received of being kidnapped. Her supportive family helps Laxmi out a fair bit, her mother Partvati buys her clothes so Laxmi doesn’t have to face embarrassment, her younger sister Suman, goes out with Laxmi whenever she needs to.
Runs in the family
Her brother, Azad suffers from the same condition, and is even smaller in height. Azad says that bullies have only made him stronger. He has taken up a job as a teacher and works very hard to achieve all of his goals. Laxmi stated that she hates meeting new people, it isn’t easy being treated badly every time she meets someone new. Laxmi, however is following Azad’s footsteps and along with the support of her mother and father, she is starting to face her fears by working in a shop.
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Money buys most things
The money she earns will help out her family a great deal, with the 8,000 rupees her family earns a month, which is equivalent to $170 SGD, for a family of five. The family’s low income, was not enough to pay for the growth hormones Laxmi and her brother could have used to be able to live a normal life. Unfortunately, money was a big factor behind making her into a woman who cannot grow.
Despite the difficulties Laxmi and her brother have faced, they are both trying their best to live a normal life and to be happy. She wants to overcome the stigma of being the woman who cannot grow.
Do you know someone with a similar condition to “the woman who cannot grow”? Tell us about it. Here is a video of a girl who had a similar disorder: