A little girl is facing the menopause after she started her period at four-years-old and developed excessive amounts of body hair.
Five-year-old Emily Dover has now become “very conscious of her body” after her breasts started to grow when she was a toddler.
Docs from the Paediatric Acute Care Unit in Wyong Hospital, Australia diagnosed the young girl with central precocious puberty and Addison’s disease.
The disorder means her adrenal glands do not produce enough steroid hormones.
Her mum, Tam Dover, is frustrated that Emily “hasn’t had a chance to be a little girl”.
Emily has been forced to learn how to put “panty liners on for menstruating” at such a young age, while dealing with strong body odour and cystic acne.
Tam said it’s difficult to explain what is happening to her, even though little Emily has now become fully aware that she is different.
Recalling the moment Emily started her period, Tam told Mirror Online: “Because she has trouble toileting, she thought she had done a poo in her undies.
“We used panty liners and it didn’t last more than a day.”
Emily was the size of a one-year-old, by four months of age.
“She continued to grow,” her mum said. “At four months old were dressing her in clothes for a 12 to 18-month-old baby.”
She was born at 10lbs, and had a “normal” first week. But her difficulties became apparent when she struggled to sleep as a newborn.
Emily is the youngest of three other siblings. Tam has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the “astronomical” costs of her daughter’s treatments and medical care.
She is due to start hormone replacement therapy, which requires her to receive an injection every three months.
Tam hopes other families facing a similar situation will be able to learn from her daughter’s story.