Shauna Raeis looking into her fertility.
In a PEOPLE’s exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming episode ofI Am Shauna Rae, the 22-year-old attends a doctor’s appointment to discuss her future fertility options. The TLC star took a hormonal blood test which will tell her if she’s capable of having biological children.
“Thinking about my reproductive health is necessary because kids are a big determining factor of whether you’re with someone,” she says. “And if I can’t have kids, and they want to have genetic, then it would be an issue.”
When she was 6 months old, Shauna was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor that required surgery and three years of chemotherapy. The treatments were successful, but when she was 5, doctors discovered that her pituitary (which is responsible for producing hormones in the body that control metabolism and growth) had been rendered dormant. Synthetic hormone injections helped her grow another 8 inches in height, but when she hit puberty at 16, her bones permanently fused, leaving her just shy of 4 ft. tall. She was diagnosed with pituitary dwarfism.
While at the OB-GYN, Shauna’s doctor explains that the specific test she took will be able to determine her chances of conceiving a child but won’t give any insight into the current workings of her pituitary gland.
TLC
“That is probably a test result I’m very anxious about getting back,” she says to cameras. “I mean, even if I don’t want to have kids one day, being told you can’t is a completely different situation. It takes away whether or not I want that lifestyle and I want that normal part of my life.”
“If I can’t have kids, or I don’t have eggs and I’m told that — how do I put this right — I’ve been told I can’t do a lot of things my entire life, so being told I can’t do another thing might make me a little angry,” she continues.
But Shauna said no matter what the results might be, she’s always had a flexible mindset when it comes to her opinions on starting a family one day.
“I’m okay with adoption,” she says. “I’m okay with surrogates. I’m okay with not having kids. So, depending on the person I’m with depends on what I do.”
The TLC star previously opened up toPEOPLEabout her fertility journey, and why it was important for her to finally get some answers.
“I do know that raising a child I have no questions about, I know I can do it,” she added. “If I meet a person and they want to have a family, then that’s what we’re going to do. It’s nothing that is never going to be a no for me, it’s always a maybe kind of situation.”
I Am Shauna Raeairs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
source: people.com
