Jyoti Amge, World's Shortest Woman, Visits NYC; Talks About Acting Dreams
Jyoti Amge, the world’s shortest woman, is 20 years old, but she stopped growing at three. Now, she stands at 2 feet and 7-tenths of an inch. She visited New York City for the first time recently in order to promote the upcoming release of the book Guinness World Records 2014.
“New York is very nice, very big,” she told the Daily News. “I’ve always seen New York on television. I’m very excited to actually be here at last.”
Amge, who comes from Nagpur, India, weighs only 12 pounds, about nine pounds more than she did at birth. She still looks like a child, but she’s getting ready to begin college and has already appeared in a Bollywood film. When asked by the Huffington Post if she wants to continue acting in Bollywood, she said her focus is now more targeted toward Hollywood.
“I don’t regret being my size. I am happy the way I am,” Amge told the Huffington Post. “It’s allowed me to do amazing things.” Guinness has helped Amge travel the world. In July, she was able to meet the world’s tallest man, Brahim Takioullah, who stands at 8 feet 3 inches. By taking a picture of both of their feet together, they attempted to start the world’s largest photo album of feet, currently with 50,000 photos.
Amge has a severe form of short-limbed dwarfism known as achondroplasia, which translates to “without cartilage formation.” According to the National Institutes of Health, the condition occurs when the body has a problem with turning cartilage into bone, especially in the body’s longer bones, such as those in the arms and legs. Amge’s height is far below the average, which stands at 4 feet 1 inch for women.
Typical achondroplasia occurs in about one in 15,000 to 40,000 newborns. It’s caused by mutations in the FGFR3 gene, which is responsible for the development and maintenance of bone and brain tissue.
While some people may see the skeletal disorder as a handicap, Amge doesn’t. “When I was not famous, I thought I was handicapped,” she told the Daily News. “But now everything is in my reach. I put myself into challenges and I just go for it.”