This erm.. woman, is 32 years old.

This erm.. woman, is 32 years old.

Maria Audete do Nascimento is an adult. Though she looks like a baby, this Brazilian woman was born on May 7th 1981. Although looking at her one might think she is a child less than a year old.

Maria has a rare disease that caused her to stop growing as an infant. University of Ceara Faculty of Medicine personnel think Maria suffered from a severe deficiency of the thyroid hormone. This condition of hypothyroidism resulted in a condition in which her body never developed physically or mentally.

Maria belongs to a poor family, living in a mud house in Ceara, Brazil. Her family consists of her father and his second wife, who has been caring for her ever since her own mother died, 13 years ago. The family cannot afford to provide any form of treatment for Maria, whose condition could have been reversed if treated at birth. For now, she continues to live like a baby, unable to tend to her own needs, and unable, even to speak. The home in which Maria lives, however poor, does not seem short of love. Her step-mother, Dora, has taken care of the woman-child since the day she was married. Dora believes that it is the passion of her life, and that the child was sent to her as a gift of God, to take care of.