Shauna Rae has revealed that she's been unfortunate in love and draws attention from the wrong people due to her height.
The 23-year-old reality TV star's TLC series, called I Am Shauna Rae, follows her as she explores her life, relationships, and considers whether she wants to earn a college degree in business or veterinary science.
Rae was born with brain cancer and underwent chemotherapy as a child, but her treatment affected her pituitary gland, resulting in her developing pituitary dwarfism.
"If you look at me, you see an eight-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 23-year-old."
Check out the trailer for Shauna's reality TV show below:During the first-ever episode of her show, Rae revealed that she is single and looking. However, she confessed that she had been struggling in her dating life and told viewers that she seemed to be luring in all the wrong people.
"My relationship status is single. I'm short, leave me alone. I attract creeps, a**holes, and idiots," she said during a teaser that aired at the beginning of the year. "It is scary to put myself out there, but you have to put some risk in to get happiness."
The young adult told the New York Post that due to her recent experience in the dating world, she’s been able to spot the creeps who are interested in her for other reasons.
"I’ve just developed the ability to spot someone who may not have the best intentions because they give themselves away," she said. "Their questions are very targeted towards my physicality […] They’re learning about me like I’m a specimen in a lab."
In the recent season, Rae is set up on a blind date with a 20-year-old volunteer firefighter called Thomas who has the same condition as her and is 4ft 8".
Although she didn't reveal her current relationship status, Rae disclosed that "there was this extra understanding" between her and her potential suitor.
"He didn’t have to sit there and have a medical talk with me, which is what I have to do with most men that I date," she said. "It was nice I didn’t have to walk him through that."
The series also features how Rae is learning to drive using hand controls since she's too short to use pedal extensions, as well as her focus on gaining financial independence so that she can live on her own.
However, while her life is similar to other young adults, her appearance still causes several difficulties that irritate her such as going to the doctor.
"I’ve had multiple issues with people not believing me when I told them my age. One thing that happened recently was I went to a [lab] to get my blood taken … I was trying to leave, but some employee wouldn’t allow me to, because they thought I was a child leaving without a parent," she said.
Rae said that she presented her ID, and told the worker that she has tattoos and piercings, however, the employee still got their supervisor involved in the matter.
"They all denied the fact that I was an adult, and they would not let me leave the property without an adult to take me home," she said. "It got to the point where I had to leave when they weren’t looking. It was so extreme."
"It’s painful when society doesn’t accept you for who you are," she said about the experience. "I want people to not question me when I say who I am. I’m OK with showing proof, if necessary."
"But if you’re a typical regular Joe off the street, then you need to take me at my word," Rae added.