Charley Hooper stands at 4-foot-3. The 10-year old probably will not get any taller as her parents have chosen to medically stunt her growth so she will not get to big to carry.
Charley is severely disabled after an injury she sustained during birth. Although she has a body of a pre-teen, her mind is that of a new born baby, explains Medical Daily. As a result, her parents believe it is best for her to undergo the controversial procedure to keep her barely over 4-feet.
"A child like this, a childlike Charley is better off small rather than big" Charley's mother Jen Hooper tells TVNZ.
Charley and her parents traveled to South Korea when she was four to begin hormone therapy. The procedure is called the Ashley Treatment and it works by stunting growth and bringing on puberty. It also involves a surgical procedure to remove her breast buds and uterus. As a result, she will not be able to menstruate, get pregnant, and grow breasts.
Pediatric endocrinologist Professor Paul Hofman, who looked after Charley in New Zealand following her visit to Korea, said the parents' decision was justified.
"The use of high dose estrogen to make the child smaller has justification certainly in the context of this family they wanted to able to look after the child for longer."
As Medical Daily explains, parents think keeping their child small makes it easier to include them in "typical family life. Charley's parents believe that keeping her small ensures that she will be able to preserve a bit of her dignity and will prevent her from a future of body harnesses."
Charley has undergone a hysterectomy, which was deemed reasonable by the Auckland Clinical Ethics Advisory Group. However, the decision did not come easy for the endocrinologists who led the parents through the process. AS TVNZ explains, advocacy groups were up in arms over the entire ordeal. "Trish Grant from IHC says denying Charley the chance to be a sexually mature, fully grown woman is a breach of her human rights."
"It worries me that the people the medical people making these decisions have no deep or current understanding of disability rights," said Grant.
But Charley's mother and father see it quite differently.
"We didn't do this to Charley, we did it for Charley."