Man who didn’t hit puberty until he was 20 due to rare genetic disorder left him stuck in childhood with a high voice and baby face is set to become a dad at 38 thanks to hormone therapy
- Jared Gale, 38, from Payson, Utah, was bullied throughout his teenage years
- He didn’t hit puberty as a teen, leaving him with a high voice and no body hair
- Finally he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that delays puberty
- Now, after nine months on hormonal treatment, he and his wife are expecting twins
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A man who didn’t go through puberty until the age of 20 due to a rare condition said it’s a ‘dream come true’ he is now set to become a first-time dad.
Jared Gale, 38, spent years perplexed as to why his body wasn’t developing as it should be – leaving him still looking like a 10-year-old at the age of 18 – before he was diagnosed with Kallmann Syndrome.
The electronic store manager was bullied for years because he was smaller and weaker than other children and still had no facial hair and a high voice until his late teens.
But after nine months of receiving hormone therapy and years of trying for a baby, Jared and wife of 15 years Jessica are now expecting twins this summer and couldn’t be happier.
Jared Gale, pictured (left) aged 17 and (right) aged 16, was always confused as to why his friends seemed to be aging and he still had a baby face. Finally at the age of 21, he was diagnosed with Kallmann Syndrome and put on hormone therapy
Now 38, he has been receiving hormone therapy for nine months. After years of trying for a baby, Jared and wife of 15 years Jessica are now expecting twins this summer and couldn’t be happier
Jared, from Payson, Utah, said: ‘Finding out that Jessica was pregnant was the best thing ever, it was a miracle.
‘We’re so ready, I feel like the last 15 years have been building up to this moment.
‘It’s only early days yet but we couldn’t be happier.’
Jared was bullied at high school because he always looked younger than his peers and would avoid PE because of awkward changing room situations.
But while he wondered ‘what was wrong with him’, he never realised his delayed puberty was due to a medical cause.
Jared was finally diagnosed with Kallman Syndrome in 2001 after a chance visit to the doctor, who asked him to sniff a cup of coffee.
The condition means that sufferers have low levels of testosterone and also have a reduced sense of taste and smell.
Jared said: ‘I always knew that something was wrong with me. When I was in high school and was 16 I still looked like I was 10.
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Jared (pictured when he was 15 in 1995) said he always knew something was wrong with him
When he was a young boy growing up in Utah (pictured, left, aged three, and, right, aged eight), nothing seemed different, Jared said
‘I got bullied a lot because I was a small kid.
‘I wondered what was wrong with me, but I was always told that I was going to be a late bloomer.
‘Every day I got bullied by somebody, it happened a lot because I was an easy target.
‘I couldn’t play sports when I was a teenager, I wasn’t strong or fast enough compared to the other boys.
‘I was embarrassed and awkward about it, I avoided the showers as much as I could and I even avoided going to PE classes.
‘I had a high pitched voice and didn’t have any facial or armpit hair.
‘When I finally went to the doctor aged 19, he took one look at me and knew something was wrong.
‘He sent me to another doctor and eventually I ended up at another doctor.
‘The third and final put a cup of coffee under my nose and I couldn’t smell it when she put it there- that’s how I was diagnosed with Kallmann Syndrome.’
Jared couldn’t play sports when he was a teenager, he wasn’t strong or fast enough compared to the other boys. He said he was embarrassed and awkward about it, he avoided the showers as much as he could and he even avoided going to PE classes. He had a high pitched voice and didn’t have any facial or armpit hair
Jared, pictured with his now-wife Jessica when they were younger and dating in 2003, two years after Jared had been diagnosed
Jared began an intensive course of hormone therapy and went through four years of puberty in only nine months.
His height also shot up by eight inches in the same period.
Jared said: ‘Going through puberty so suddenly and quickly was shocking – I got angry, I grew and I had massive mood swings.
‘At one point wanted to hide as much as I could because of the mood swings.
‘I was 5ft1 at the beginning and nine months later I was 5ft10in.
‘After the therapy I felt complete even thought it had been a rough experience.’
Having struggled with unsuccessful dating, Jared met Jessica in 2002 before the pair married in 2004.
They always wanted to have children but were initially unable to because Jared’s sperm count was too low because of his condition.
But incredibly, after increasing this via medication and one cycle of IVF, the pair were given the incredible news Jessica was pregnant in September 2018.
He said: ‘Dating was always hard, I always liked girls and I always wanted to be accepted by them.
‘Getting married fulfilled the need I had to get someone to accept me for who I was.
‘It was an absolute miracle Jessica fell pregnant, as the odds were stacked against us.
‘Our future looks bright and we couldn’t be happier.’
Having struggled with unsuccessful dating, Jared met Jessica in 2002 before the pair married in 2004. They always wanted to have children but were initially unable to because Jared’s sperm count was too low because of his condition
After increasing his sperm count via medication and one cycle of IVF, the pair were given the incredible news Jessica was pregnant in September 2018
Jared said: ‘Our future looks bright and we couldn’t be happier’
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