A 26-year-old woman who looks like a child has opened up about the shocking and deeply unsettling experiences she’s faced while dating – particularly with predatory “creeps” who are disturbingly attracted to her youthful appearance.
Shauna Rae Lesick is opening up about the unsettling challenges she faces in the world of dating – a reality few can truly understand. At 26, the star of TLC’s I Am Shauna Rae lives a life filled with ordinary ambitions – seeking independence, exploring relationships, and carving out her own identity.
But her appearance tells a different story.
Pituitary dwarfism
Due to an extremely rare form of pituitary dwarfism, caused by early damage to her pituitary gland, Lesick looks like a child – which, she says, brings a disturbing type of attention from men who are unable or unwilling to see her as the adult she is.
Lesick’s condition stems from a traumatic start to life. According to People, at just six months old, she was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor that required immediate surgery followed by three years of chemotherapy. While the treatment saved her life, it came at a steep cost. By age five, doctors discovered her pituitary gland – responsible for hormone production that controls everything from metabolism to growth – had gone dormant. Although synthetic hormone therapy helped her gain an additional eight inches in height, her growth stopped completely at age 16 when her bones fused prematurely during puberty. She now stands just under 4 feet tall.
People ‘immediately think child’
While her condition is medical, her appearance constantly prompts people to underestimate her age – or outright deny she’s an adult. In a now-viral TikTok clip, Lesick revealed how often she’s handed children’s menus and crayons at restaurants.
“So, getting things like kids’ menus, kids’ cups, crayons at restaurants is common,” she admitted in a video also shared on Instagram. “It’s less common, I’ve noticed, when I’m out with my friends – very common when I’m out with older sisters or my family in general.”
“I think it’s just the environment I’m around and the way I carry myself that sometimes affects it, but I also I think if they see you in a family environment, they see a short-statured person, they just immediately think child, but it happens all the time.”
Dark side of dating
Dating has proven even more complicated, Lesick said, explaining that her youthful appearance draws attention from men whose interest crosses a disturbing line.
“If you look at me, you see an 8-year-old,” she told the New York Post, “But I think if you take the time to look at the details in my face, in my hands, the maturity in my body – and I think if you take the time to actually talk to me – you really understand that I’m a [26]-year-old.”
In a 2025 episode of The Unplanned Podcast, Lesick that she was “terrified” of predators and “scared to date.”
“My parents warned me from a young age,” Shauna said. “They said, ‘You have to be careful. Some people might only be interested in you because you look the way you do.’ That terrified me.”
She admits that fear kept her from moving forward for years, holding her back from fully living the life she wanted.
“I was scared to date. Scared to flirt. Scared to even be asked out. Once, a boy asked me out in the cafeteria at school – and I straight-up asked him if he was a predator.”
She’s grown skilled at identifying men who approach her for the wrong reasons – particularly the “creeps” who fetishize her appearance.
“I’ve just developed the ability to spot someone who may not have the best intentions because they give themselves away,” she told the Post. “Their questions are very targeted towards my physicality…They’re learning about me like I’m a specimen in a lab.”
New boyfriend
But according to recent Instagram posts, it appears Lesick has finally found the one, whose identity she’s keeping under wraps for now.
“My source of happiness,” she captioned a July Instagram post, where she’s seen getting cozy with her new man.
In September, the TV star shared a carousel of photos on Facebook featuring her new partner – whose face still hidden – along with her dog and bunnies.
“Love y’all more than I can even put in words,” she writes.
As Shauna Rae Lesick continues to share her journey, she forces viewers to confront deep-seated biases and rethink what adulthood really looks like.
Please let us know what you think of this incredibly inspiring woman and then share this story so we can hear from others!
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