Size doesn't matter: how the shortest couple in the world manages to lead a normal life

The shortest couple in the world, where the height of both men and women is less than 90 cm, proved to everyone that size does not matter when it comes to love.

Paulo Gabriel da Silva Barros and Katyusia Hoshino from Brazil suffer from dwarfism: his height is 88.4 cm, and hers is 89.4 cm. 30-year—old Paulo has a rare genetic deviation - diastrophic dwarfism, characterized by systemic bone dysplasia. Katyusia has congenital chondrodystrophy, which prevents her bones from growing. Paulo works as a lawyer's secretary, and his lover is the owner of a beauty salon.

(21 photos in total)

Source: Daily Mail

The couple hopes to get into the Guinness Book of Records. They met each other ten years ago on a social network and started chatting.

According to Paulo, it was love at first sight. "She seemed very beautiful to me from the very first moment I saw her," he says.

However, the attraction was not mutual. 26-year-old Katyusia first blocked him in the messenger. "The first time I started communicating with Paulo, he was very annoying. He used hackneyed phrases to flirt."

Paulo adds: "She thought I was trying to flirt, but I was just being nice. In her opinion, I was a really boring type."

So this love story could have ended, but 18 months later Katyusia suddenly decided to unblock a persistent boyfriend. The girl recalls: "One day something turned over in my head, and I took it and unlocked it. By that time, he aroused more trust in communication."

"When she unblocked me, less than a minute later, I texted her: "Hi." We started chatting, and she told me that I was behaving more decently," says Paulo.

Two months later, Paulo traveled more than 300 km to come to Katyusia's hometown — Londrina — and finally meet her. He says he was shocked by her beauty, but she was shy and not impressed by his taste in clothes.

"What attracted me most about her, apart from her beauty, was her sweet way of communicating." The girl tells: "He was wearing an orange shirt, jeans and sunglasses. Thank God, things have gotten better since then."

Despite Katyusha's fears about the great distance between them, five days later the couple began dating, and four years later they began to live together.

Katyusia says, "I've never dated anyone before, so Paulo is my first boyfriend, my first everything."

Now, according to them, they live the same way as any other couple. Paulo has a specially equipped car that he can drive, and Katyusia's beauty salon is equipped in a special way for her growth. Paulo is going to run for mayor in his hometown of Itapeva.

"The best thing in our relationship is our closeness and friendly communication. She supports me in everything, she is my little fighter," says Paulo.

"We fight like any other couple. Couples who don't quarrel are not normal. Our thoughts, ideas and feelings coincide, and it's really cool. Its best quality is simplicity. He is the same person as anyone else."

"I think we are different people in a couple, we are not the same person. We discuss our relationship, sit down, talk and come to a decision. I have a very difficult character, it's not easy with me, but Paulo is so understanding and patient, and that's what attracts me most about him."

The couple travels together, goes to parties, eats ice cream or Japanese cuisine. "Most of all we like to eat and sleep. This is what we do best," Katyusia jokes.

The low growth of Paulo and Katyusia does not allow them to use ATMs, public toilets and reach the counters of their favorite buffets normally.

Katyusia adds: "It is difficult for me to handle the oven, sink, washing machine, as well as open windows and doors."

Both say they faced discrimination, they were pointed at and stared at on the street, and passersby openly laughed at their height. "I face discrimination on a daily basis. Every day I go out on the street and meet people who point at me, whisper, it's a common thing. There's no getting away from it," the girl says.

Paulo and his beloved shrug off the ignorance of others. After eight years spent together, they are going to get married, although Paulo has not yet proposed. "If it wasn't for his patience, we wouldn't have been able to be together for eight years. I wouldn't be who I am now. Paulo teaches me a lot," says Katyusia.

A short couple does not exclude that they will have children in the future, although it may not be easy for Katyusha to carry a child. "We decided that we would let events take their course. As for the future, we believe that we should never say “never". I would like to get married one day, I would like us to have our own house and dogs. Regardless of whether we have children or not, I want to be happy, and that's it."