‘Little Women: LA’ star Terra Jolé has kept her son Grayson’s dwarfism test results a secret until now. The reality star, 37, said she’s gotten a lot of questions about her 1-year-old son’s development because he resembles an average-sized child, but she and her husband Joe Gnoffo both have different types of dwarfism.
Terra has achondroplasia, Joe has pseudoachondroplasia, and their daughter Penelope, 3, has achondroplasia.
Terra revealed exclusively on Access Live that her son Grayson’s test results came back and he has Pseudoachondroplasia.
“A lot of people have been inquiring regarding Grayson, because he resembles an average-sized child. Achons – when we’re born, we look like, ‘Okay – I know that’s an achon. They have larger heads, their bodies are the same size, their arms and their legs are a little bit shorter.’ But average size and pseudos are born exactly the same. We had to have testing done in order to find out if he was little or average sized,” Terra began.
“We weren’t going to [get tested] for a long time, but we ended up deciding on actually having the testing done, and it’s official that he is little,” Terra revealed to Access’ Natalie and Kit. “We are in a little family. And I’m grateful for that. I know that a lot of people think that it may be a negative thing, but we wouldn’t have had children if we thought dwarfism was negative.”
Terra said being little has actually greatly influenced her life and the way she lives it.
“I feel being little has made me who I am today, so I’m proud that he’s little and I’m proud that we have a little family. With all the ups and downs that dwarfism does have, I feel he’s in the best environment to explore that,” she shared.
Her husband, Joe, had a feeling that their son was not going to be average-sized and is excited to have a son just like him.
“He’s totally comfortable with knowing that his son is just like him. It’s like his little clone. He looks like his twin and I am so grateful for that.”
WATCH: ‘Little Women: LA’s’ Terra Jolé Reveals Her Son Has Pseudoachondroplasia
The mother-of-two admitted there are definitely challenges that children have to face with dwarfism, and she didn’t anticipate many of the difficulties her daughter, Penelope, would have.
Terra broke down in tears as she talked about how her 3-year-old has had trouble walking and how the daycare systems don’t accommodate for children who develop at different stages.
“She’s still working on walking, and we’re still in the process of that,” Terra explained. “It’s been difficult because like I said, my son’s in day care, but my daughter sadly can’t get into the — oh, my gosh. I was not going to go here. [She] can’t go into a day care until she can walk.”
Terra, who has the same type of dwarfism as her daughter, said she didn’t have difficulty walking as a child so she didn’t see that hurdle for her daughter coming. The momma said that like any parent, you just want your kids to succeed and be happy.
“It’s just part of being different. I mean, everything happens at different stages,” Terra said with tears in her eyes. “I know everybody goes in different stages, everybody does. I’m not saddened by that. I’m saddened there’s no programs, because I feel she’s motivated by other children, and there’s no program out there that is like, ‘We will take your child if she can or can’t walk.’ It’s like, ‘We’ll take your daughter, as soon as she’s able to walk.'”
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