Little girl who started her periods at four will soon face going through the menopause

A five-year-old girl who grew breasts at the age of two and started her periods aged four is now having to face going through the menopause.

Emily Dover has already grown pubic hair and breasts and also suffers from acne and body odour, her mother has revealed.

Tam Dover, from New South Wales, Australia told Mirror Online that her daughter suffers from Addisons disease, which has lead to her going through puberty early.

The condition also means that at just five Emily already weighs seven stone and towers over her classmates, which has lead to her reportedly being bullied at school.

“It’s difficult to explain to her what is happening,” Tam told the publication. “She knows she’s different, she knows she’s much bigger than other children. She’s very conscious of her body. I don’t want her to fear what is happening.”

Describing the moment her daughter started menstruating, Tam, 41, said: “Because she has trouble toileting, she thought she had done a poo in her undies. We used panty liners and it didn’t last more than a day.”

“She only had her period again the other day,” she continued.

“She hasn’t even had a chance to be a little girl.”

Though she was born a healthy baby, Emily began growing much faster than other babies and by four months had grown to the size of a one-year-old.

By the age of two she began growing breasts and developing acne.

After years of tests and analysis, Emily was eventually diagnosed with Addison’s disease at the age of four.

According to the NHS Addison’s disease is a rare disorder of the adrenal glands.

“The adrenal glands are two small glands that sit on top of the kidneys. They produce two essential hormones: cortisol and aldosterone,” the site explains.

“In Addison’s disease, the adrenal gland is damaged, and not enough cortisol and aldosterone are produced.”

About 8,400 people in the UK have Addison’s disease and though it can affect people of any age, it’s most common between the ages of 30 and 50. It’s also more common in women than men.

In the rare cases when children are affected, the condition can trigger the onset of early puberty and the necessary hormone treatment can stimulate symptoms of menopause.

Emily’s mum has set up a GoFundMe page to try to raise funds for the expensive hormone replacement therapy that her little girl is due to begin.

“We simply don’t have the funds to provide everything that Emily needs treatment wise,” the GoFundMe page reads.

“It is hard to ask for the for the charity of strangers for your child, but, here we are, hoping that you can help make a difference in our little girls life, so she can just feel like a normal 5 year old. Not the 5 year old that is battling puberty amongst other conditions.”

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

Boys should be taught about periods at school, a charity has advised

Grandmother outraged after school tells 11-year-old granddaughter her dress is too ‘distracting’ for picture day

Mum who was shamed by a stranger in an airport hits back at her critics