World’s only identical twin with primordial dwarfism lifts the lid on the perils of dating at 4ft 4in as she celebrates first year in business making jewellery

The world’s only identical twin with primordial dwarfism has lifted the lid on the perils of dating at 4ft 4in as she celebrates her first year in business making bespoke jewellery.

Given just a 10 per cent chance of surviving for 24 hours when she was delivered six weeks premature by C-section on December 22 1998, weighing 1lb 7oz and with rare Dandy-Walker syndrome  – meaning part of her brain was missing – Sienna Bernal is now 23.

But life is not straightforward for the plucky woman, who is 15in shorter than her 5ft 7in identical twin Sierra, a country singer.

Born four minutes before her, Sierra is currently in a relationship and taught her tiny sister  – who is often mistaken for an eight-year-old – to “flirt with boys.”

And Sienna, of Houston, Texas, USA, who is currently single, says her first boyfriend when she was 15 was a 14-year-old six footer, laughing: “It didn’t last very long.

“When I was younger I was just focused on finding friends, so when I had my first boyfriend it really came out of the blue.”

Being tiny can also attract some strange characters, according to Sienna, although she is closely guarded by her fiercely protective twin sister, her university student brother Austin, 27, and their parents brand consultant Chrissy, 44, and salesman Joey, 49.

She said: “I wouldn’t mind going back to dating someone, but it has to be the right guy – and my sister will need to approve of him.

“I’m not as nervous as I used to be, but I’ve been praying to God that he finds me the right man at the right time.”

She added: “There are some older men who do talk to me, but I’ve become aware that some people just aren’t good and I know who to stay away from.”

Not only does being so tiny pose problems when it comes to attracting the right partner, it also makes it difficult to find the kind of stylish adult wardrobe she would like to wear on dates.

Wearing the same size clothes as a seven-year-old and a child’s size 5 shoe, comes with both advantages and drawbacks, according to Sienna.

She said: “Flirty footwear can be very hard to find.

“But while I used to think wearing kids’ clothes was embarrassing, now I’m happy as it’s cheaper.

“I am 23, so I like to wear things that are cute and flirty, though, and trying to find them in my size can be awkward.”

Considering that Sienna weighed the same as a loaf of bread, compared to her 4lb 4.8oz sister, when she was born with a rare brain malformation causing delayed development  and making medics believe she would struggle to walk or talk beyond the level of an eight-year-old, her progress is remarkable.

The girls’ parents had only been told they were having twins at six months pregnant, as Sienna had been so tiny she had not been spotted on a scan.

And it was not until she was six-years-old that she was diagnosed with primordial dwarfism, a rare genetic disorder believed to affect just 200 people worldwide, according to the Potentials Foundation, a non-profit organisation helping families like the Barnals.

She has also been recognised as the only identical twin with the condition by Guinness World Records.

She said: “When I was younger, I was so confused. I’d ask my mum what was going on.

“I could tell I was very different from everyone else. I knew I’d always be shorter than them.”

She added: “I was tinier than everyone in my school.”

While her sister’s height was shooting up  and she was happily pursuing her dreams of becoming a singer, Sienna was stuck at home.

Her parents wanted to protect her, as her height and weight were stunted, meaning she weighed  only 1st 11lb when she was 13.

Despite having a loving and supportive relationship with her twin, it was hard for Sienna to see her learning to drive and being invited out on dates  – all experiences she was largely missing out on.

She said: “When I was a teenager, it was difficult, because my sister was going out and doing all these things that I couldn’t. I missed out on all of it.

“It was really tough to be sociable. It was difficult to make friends, as I couldn’t do things like my sister could.”

She added: “Our adventures were different.

“I couldn’t go shopping and I couldn’t get things from the shelves, as they were too high up.”

As the twins became adults, Sienna – who still cannot drive – says people continued to speak to her as if she was a child and often asked if she was Sierra’s younger sister.

She added: “It was strange because everyone always thought Sierra was my older sister, but we’re twins. We’re the exact same age.

“Even when we tell people we’re twins, they’ll ask what the age difference is.”

Bullied as a child because of her size –  when other children threw things at her and called her names like  “midget”  – Sienna also developed social anxiety and still struggles to trust new people.

People also misunderstood Sienna, who recalls being called “unruly” by some mums in a cinema ladies’ room as, unable to reach the taps, she had to climb up onto the sink and they assumed she was a child – not an adult – messing around.

She said: “People treat me differently because of my height.

“Me and my sister will go out to eat and people will talk to her like an adult and to me like a kid.”

She added: “I think it is very disrespectful. I don’t ever talk down to people.”

But, despite life’s challenges, Sienna continues to astonish those around her.

Warned at birth that if she survived, she would likely “be a vegetable,” instead, she graduated from high school in 2017 at the same time as her sister and even landed a place at a local community college.

And she now has big dreams despite her small size of becoming a celebrated jewellery designer like her idol Kendra Scott.

Sienna, who created her bespoke jewellery company ‘It’s a Sinny Size’ in mid-2021, said: “I always wanted to be more independent.

“That was my dream as a teenager. I wanted my own business and to be able to afford things for fun.”

She added: “When I graduated from high school it was a big step for me. It made me believe I could do other things and I was so proud of myself.

“I wanted to prove to myself that I could be independent in the future. That’s why I worked so hard in school.

“I wanted to show I could learn more than a third grade reading level.”

She added: “With the business, this is the happiest I’ve been and it’s been so exciting. Now I can say I have something to look forward to.”

Proud mum Chrissy said Sienna spent much of her childhood in and out of hospital, battling pneumonia and chronic lung disease, and also developing agonisingly painful scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. As Sienna has two curves, she cannot be operated on.

With Sienna missing many of the milestones her twin sister was hitting, the family looked for advice from countless specialists to find out what was causing her developmental issues.

But experts were baffled, with Chrissy even being accused of being a bad mum who was not feeding her daughter – despite Sienna being a “big eater” who loves sushi.

Chrissy said: “As a young mum, it was very upsetting and I was being told I was a bad mum and I wasn’t feeding her enough.”

The family spent years in the dark, desperate to find out why their twin daughters were living such starkly different lives.

Chrissy said: “We didn’t know what we were up against, but we had to take it day by day.

“Sienna didn’t walk until she was about two. And she started talking much later than her sister.

“It was tough to see our children going through different trajectories, especially as twins and when Sierra was living a normal life.”

She added: “Sierra was playing music in front of people, starting a career and going on dates, while Sienna had none of that.

“To see her sister living her dream was incredibly difficult for Sienna, even if she was the most supportive twin.”

It wasn’t until the twins were six years old in 2004, after seeing a geneticist, that the family finally had a diagnosis of primordial dwarfism.

Describing the moment she found out, Chrissy said: “It was very frustrating not to have any answers as to why she was so small and why all of this was happening.

“When we finally got the diagnosis, we were happy to have an answer.”

Now Chrissy could not be prouder of her tiny daughter.

She said: “For me, looking at her is a constant reminder that you never know what the future holds and you can only do the best you can.

“I’m so proud of her. She’s worked so hard and she’s one of the most emotionally intelligent people I know.

“Having Sienna as a daughter has made me a better person. It’s made me focus on life differently.

“As a family, we have been truly blessed.”

You can find Sienna’s handmade jewellery on https://itsasinnysize.com/ and on Instagram @sinnysized.