This Woman Wants to Be Considered Paralyzed Despite Being Completely Physically Healthy

She considers herself to be "transabled".

Alexandra

• Published in Interesting
• January 16, 2018

Being physically disabled is one of the toughest struggles an individual can possibly be faced with. Furthermore, if you were given the choice to live either a life with no physical disabilities versus a life with one (or more) of them, I assume you would likely choose the first option, as this would be a much easier way to go through life. 

There is always one exception to an assumption and, in this case, that assumption comes to us in the form of a 61-year-old chemist who resides in Utah. Chloe Jennings-White is a perfectly healthy woman who is dedicated to living her life as a disabled individual. 

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Jennings-White Still Has All of Her Properly-Functioning Limbs

Despite still having all of her limbs and the use of them, Jennings-White self-identifies as a paraplegic and lives her life confined to her wheelchair. 

Make note, she does not need the wheelchair; she simply likes having to use one. 

Jennings-White With Her Leg Braces and Wheelchair

With the help of braces that lock her knees, she is able to prevent using them to walk and furthermore claims that she is disabled. 

However, there is a catch. When she is required to do something that involves the use of her legs, that she does not feel like struggling with, she simply unlocks the braces and goes about her business as a non-disabled, healthy individual. In fact, she often engages in long hikes and ski trips. Jennings-White claims that none of these things make her happy with life and she prefers to live life as a disabled individual, as it gives her the most pleasure out of her time. 

Another Shot of The Chemist in Her Wheelchair

When it comes to her past with the condition known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder, the signs of a struggle have been present for some time. In their coverage of this shocking story Oddity Central reports, ""When she was nine, White climbed her bike and rode it off a tall wooden stage she had set up in a local park, with the sole intention of crashing and breaking her back,"

This was a clear indication that something was off about Jennings-White. 

She Has Spoke With Many Interviewers About Her Rare and Interesting Condition

Obviously, the accident during her youth did not have the outcome that she was hoping for as she still has fully functioning body parts. After doing so, she realized that there was a strong possibility she could have rendered herself paralyzed from the neck down instead of the desired result of the waist down. 

After this attempt, she continued to want to be disabled from the neck down. Her condition worsened after her aunt actually did become a paraplegic after being involved in a tragic accident. Jennings-White's desire only grew more extreme from that point forward. 

Jennings-White Has Fully Dedicated Her Life to Living as a Paraplegic

She Was Eventually Diagnosed With BIID

Around 2008, doctors finally were able to successfully diagnose Jennings-White with BIID, Body Integrity Identity Disorder, which is a rare psychological condition. This condition leads those affected to believe that their lives would have much more happiness and meaning if they were paralyzed. When someone is diagnosed with this disorder, living as a paraplegic is their desired path in life and they dedicate their time and energy into doing so. 

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Although she suffers from an incredibly rendering psychological disorder, Jennings-White has had a very successful career. She studied at Cambridge University and worked at the Stanford Research Insititute. While she was employed here, her condition reached an all-time high and she began to spiral out of control. She was constantly fantasizing about becoming paralyzed and began to plan various ways she could successfully paralyze herself. 

In the beginning stages of her disorder, she would pretend to be paralyzed when no one was around by using wooden planks at the back of her legs to limit the use of them. 

Fearing that Jennings-White would continue to make attempts to paralyze herself, doctors allowed her to use a wheelchair in order to live the life that she desired. The wheelchair has allowed her to live her life without the constant self-harm thoughts and desires to a certain extent. There is still a part of her that struggles with the desire to become a full paraplegic. 

Jennings-White is Searching For a Doctor To Perform Surgery on Her to Render Her Paralyzed

As no doctor will agree to perform an operation on Jennings-White that renders her paraplegic, she continues to live life in the comfort of her wheelchair and knee braces. Her hope is that she will find a doctor one day who will perform a procedure that will end in cutting her sciatic and femoral nerves.

She is having no luck with this goal. 

And to be fair, I don't think she will find much success in doing so. 

Alexandra