Teenager Trapped in Baby's Body

Teenager Trapped in Baby's Body

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

filed under: health

Since she was born, 16-year-old Brooke Greenberg has barely grown beyond the size of a toddler.

If you've ever secretly longed for your baby or toddler to stay tiny forever -- be careful what you wish for. That dream of perpetual youth is a reality for the Greenberg family of Baltimore. Their daughter, Brooke, weighs 16 pounds and is barely 30 inches tall -- yet she was born in 1993. While other girls her age are celebrating their sweet 16 or attending school, Brooke, who suffers from a mysterious malady that no one to date has been able to diagnosis, only communicates through childlike babbling.

"There've been very minimal changes in Brooke's brain," Dr. Richard Walker of the University of South Florida College of Medicine told ABCnews. "Various parts of her body, rather than all being at the same stage, seem to be disconnected." Yet, the teenager has never been diagnosed with a genetic syndrome or abnormal chromosomes.

Brooke's family seems to take her condition in stride. Her father, Howard Greenberg, says, "Brooke is the nucleus of our family. What if Brooke holds the secret to aging? We'd like to find out. We'd like to help people. Everybody's here for a reason. Maybe this is why Brooke is here."

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Has similar qualities to Turner’s Syndrome? That also causes females to stay young and not enter puberty.

- colleen

Posted 06/30/09 12:47 PM

bet the pedofiles can’t wait until she’s 18.

- going to hell

Posted 06/30/09 12:58 PM

In case soem of you readers can’t figure it out, she has a genetic condition. I would imagine that it has also affected her mental development as well and that would be why at 16 she is still in middle school. Also, she has not stayed a baby all these years, her body has stayed the size of a baby…big difference there……..Please, read, think and understand and stop the strange comments…thanks..

- Frieda

Posted 06/30/09 12:59 PM

I think taht is horrible… I can’t imagine how the parents felt when they discovered it. It makes me glad my baby is OK.

- Taylor

Posted 06/30/09 01:03 PM

The question is does Brooke “know” she’s trapped in the body of a toddler. Is that 16 year old mind trapped? If she hasn’t developed mentally beyond a toddler, that’s one thing. But if her mind, intellect and psychology has developed and her body hasn’t, that’s something else. These are questions the article should have addressed. It truly is badly written and barely worth the bandwith it utilizes in the amount of information in imparts.

- Ginger Snap

Posted 06/30/09 01:05 PM

frieda im not sure you know how to read b/c most o thethings that you are saying are not even in this article…..how would she even be in middle school….she cant speak real words?

- jon

Posted 06/30/09 01:07 PM

i know somebody whose daughter is 12, and she cannot walk, or talk. she still has to wear diapers and she is the size of a 2 year old. it is a legitimate thing.

- Leah

Posted 06/30/09 01:14 PM

What a crazy headline! It gives the impression that a person with the mental age of 16 is living in a very small body. The reality is that this individual is developmentally stunted and never grew up past the age of 2 or so. The only thing unusual about this case is that her body stopped growing along with her mind. There are plenty of chronological “adults” who are mentally infants or toddlers. It’s sad, but it’s not news.

- Indiana

Posted 06/30/09 01:59 PM

i think this artical is crazy! so r the comments! some of these comments make no sense! i feel really bad for her she cant have sex!!

- :]

Posted 06/30/09 02:02 PM

mel, you have a good point. i’ve never heard of grown adults being put up for adoption!!!

- Kati Lynn

Posted 06/30/09 05:10 PM

P.S. thwe comment mel wrote was on the first comment page

- Kati Lynn

Posted 06/30/09 05:16 PM

I have a little boy who is six years old and only weighs 24 pounds and is 32 inches long. He’s the size of a six month old baby. He has had some developmental delays and has some severe medical problems-vent dependent, trach, scoliosis, feeding tube. With all of that said, he’s one of the happiest little boys in the world. When you are a mom of a special needs child you don’t give a darn about societies “norms”, who gives a hoot if said child is healthy and happy? I give the mom major kudos :) She’s doing a great job-and this is from a mom who has also been there.

- Heidi Burdick

Posted 08/13/09 12:38 AM

I go to school with Carly, and she really has no problem inviting friends over, and being a normal girl with her sister Brooke like this. But me and my friend Zack, were saying how AMAZING it is for Brooke to still be alive, after brain tumor, stroke, numerous surgeries its absouloutly amazing!

- maddie

Posted 10/06/09 07:22 PM

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