A woman with dwarfism has revealed how limb lengthening surgery changed her life in “a world built for a person of average height”.
Kristen DeAndrade, 36, was born with achondroplasia – a rare genetic condition that causes poor bone growth.
She began receiving surgery aged 12, which involved stretching her limbs one broken bone at a time.
The author, from West Palm Beach, Florida, went from 3ft 9 to 4ft 11.
Kristen said: “I saw the surgery as a way of living a more functional, independent life in a world built for a person of average height.
“As a child, I experienced a lot of medical difficulties because of my achondroplasia, like ear infections.
“I also struggled to navigate through public places. Toilets were too high, and I couldn’t reach light switches.
“My school had to adapt everything for me, I had my own table with little boxes to help me get up to my chair.”
The hardship Kristen experienced as a child was a key part of her choice to undergo limb-lengthening surgery.
Her decision has caused controversy, though, and not everyone agrees with what she’s done.
She said: “There are some people in the dwarfism community who claim it to be cosmetic surgery.
“They have said that I should love my body for who I am and that I should be ashamed for wanting to be like everyone else. “
Leg-lengthening surgery can take years and is not always recommended. According to the NHS, it carries a risk of complications.
But Kristen feels comfortable with her choice. She said: “I knew from a young age that I wanted the surgery.
“Both my parents Lynn, 73 and Joe, 70 are of average height.
“From the start, they supported me in my decision making.”
Aged 12, Kristen discovered Dr Paley, a specialist in limb lengthening procedures at the Maryland Centre For Limb Lengthening And Reconstruction.
Kristen underwent her first limb lengthening procedure in June 1998. She went on to have the procedure repeatedly over four years.
“I was about 12 when I had my first surgery,” she said. “They stretched out my lower legs, the tibias first, to six inches long.
“When I had my legs lengthened, Dr Paley actually straightened out my legs which were bowing outward. Then I had four inches on my arms.
“When I had my upper legs lengthened, specifically the femurs, Dr Paley also corrected the deformity I had in my hip joint.”
Each procedure involved Kristen having her bones broken, with external fixators added to help stretch out the healing bone.
Kristen said: “Each month, my limbs would be stretched an extra inch, and then there’d be an extra month for consolidation.
“It was four years of back-to-back procedures and healing.
In that time, I had to learn how to walk again and to learn to love my scars.”
Kristen described how, after her first procedure, she was able to reach the kitchen counter, enabling her to learn to cook and help her mum in the kitchen.
At 16, when the surgery was over, she celebrated by getting her driver’s licence.
She said: “For me, the surgery was my view into the future – a future of being independent and the ability to navigate an average-sized world free of pain.
“Adults with dwarfism tend to have a lot of health issues, and after my limb-lengthening, I’ve delayed a lot of those problems.”
Kristen is now a motivational speaker and an advocate for limb-lengthening. She has written a book called ‘Little Legs, Big Heart’.