The Girl Who Did Not Grow
Brooke Greenberg
Brooke Greenberg is not the average sixteen year old girl. Instead of getting her driver's license, she is still riding in a car seat. Her independent parts are growing out of sync, causing her to age in an unconventional way. She is only thirty inches tall and weighs a mere sixteen pounds. Her father, Howard Greenberg, has many questions about his daughter.
"Why doesn't she age?" He asks. "Is she the fountain of youth?"
Her mother, Melanie Greenberg, has a very positive attitude towards her daughter, and does not let her size get to her. Her mother pushes her in a stroller as they shop together.
"She loves to shop", she said. "Just like a woman."
Since it is so confusing to explain Brooke's real age, her mother even has an answer for when people ask her how old her daughter is.
"My system always has been to turn years into months", Greenberg said. "So, if someone asked today, I might say, she's 16 months old."
Brooke cannot talk, but she can laugh and recognize people she knows. Her three sisters claim that she can still act like her age when she wants to. She can show her unhappiness by the noises of an average baby.
"She looks like a six month old, but she kind of has a personality of a sixteen year old", Caitlin Greenberg, 19, said. "Sometimes we joke about how she rebels."
"She makes it known what she likes and what she doesn't like", Emily Greenberg, 22, said. All three sisters have learned to accept their sister, even the youngest one, who is thirteen.
At an early age, Brooke was put through growth hormone therapy, but it didn't work.
"We took her back in six months, and the doctor looked at us and said, 'Why didn't you give Brooke the growth hormones?' And I said, 'We gave Brooke the growth hormones. We gave her everything you told us to do.' And Brooke didn't put on a pound, an ounce; she didn't grow an inch."
Scientist hope the mysterious case of Brooke can open them up to some of the mysteries of genetics.
