She's just trying to act her age!
Meet Shauna Rae, a woman who is frequently mistaken for a child due to side effects from surviving a rare form of brain cancer as a baby.
"If you were to look at me, you would think I'm just a normal little girl doing normal little girl things with my fun, crazy family," the 22-year-old star of TLC's new docuseries I Am Shauna Rae explains in an exclusive trailer. "But the truth is: I'm not a little girl. I'm a woman, a 22-year-old woman stuck in the body of an 8-year-old."
Shauna was diagnosed with brain cancer at 6 months old and underwent a life-saving chemotherapy treatment that rendered her pituitary gland almost dormant, meaning that Shauna stopped growing. Today she's only 3 feet and 10 inches tall, the average height of an 8-year-old.
I Am Shauna Rae follows Shauna as she goes barhopping, gets a tattoo and takes a pole-dancing class. The new TLC series premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
"Even though physically I can't grow up, I desperately want to be treated like a grown-up," Shauna reveals in the teaser. "I am working on my independence."
Meanwhile Shauna's mother shares that she feels "guilty" that Shauna suffers from stigmas. "She will have to go through this for the rest of her life. So all I can do is protect her," she states through tears.
And Shauna's biggest feat yet proves to be entering the dating world. "I attract creeps, a––holes and idiots," Shauna deadpans. "It is scary to put myself out there but you have to put some risk to get happiness."
One blind date says that he thought he was "being Punk'd or something" after seeing Shauna.
Regardless, Shauna is holding out hope. "I'm determined to make this year my year to shine," she says.
As TLC President Howard Lee said in a press statement, "When I first heard about Shauna Rae, I couldn't stop asking questions. I was fascinated by her life and it became quite clear TLC needed to tell her story. Similar to so many series on TLC, hers is one with its own unique set of challenges and she faces those with courage, heart, and a punch of sass."
Watch the first look of I Am Shauna Rae above!
The series is produced by Figure 8 Films for TLC.
I Am Shauna Rae premieres Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 10 p.m. on TLC.