Lizzie Velasquez Speaker & Booking Information

Lizzie Velásquez, was born March 13, 1989 is an American woman whose extremely rare medical condition has led her to become an author and motivational speaker. Velazquez has a condition that is so rare that only two other people are known to have it. She has zero percent body fat, and has never weighed more than 60 pounds (27 kg). Although Velazquez is not anorexic, she is unable to gain weight and is required to eat many small meals throughout the day, averaging a meal every 15 minutes. Her daily energy intake of about 5000 kilocalories compares with the US average of 3770. She is blind in her right eye which began to cloud over when she was four years of age, and has limited vision in the other. She has a weak immune system. Her condition is similar to many other conditions, especially progeria. However, her condition is not terminal. Involved medical researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have expressed the opinion that it may be a form of neonatal progeroid syndrome which at least has spared her healthy bones, organs and teeth. It is thought she should be able to conceive naturally without passing the condition to her children. She has some progeroid physical characteristics, such as the pointed nose and already aging skin, but she has additional problems beyond that diagnostic classification. Lizzie Velasquez has spoken out against bullying. Her first published work was her co-authored and self-published autobiography released in 2010 in English and Spanish. Her second book, Be Beautiful, Be You (2012), advocates informing people that appearance doesn't matter, and that one should love oneself for who one is. It was published by a Redemptorist publishing house, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.