TSSUS has Given Me the Best Friends Ever! by Katlin Verdin

Hello! My name is Katlin Verdin, and I’m a 22 year old woman who was diagnosed with Turner syndrome (TS) at 9 years old . I currently reside in Bethel, Ohio and work for a daycare and at a school for kids with disabilities as a paraprofessional.

As a young girl, my family and I knew nothing about Turner syndrome until my mom did her research. I needed help to explain TS and understand how it fit into my life. So I started to go to meetings, Camp Kern, and picnic in my community where I made tons of new friends.

I attended my first TSSUS National Turner Syndrome Conference when I was 13 years old in Cincinnati, Ohio, and went to my second last year in Orlando, Florida. TSSUS has given my family and I a common language and a better understanding of TS and also has helped me to advocate more effectively about TS to my family and friends. TSSUS has given me some of the most wonderful friends that I could have ever asked for.

When I was first diagnosed, we knew nothing about Turner syndrome until my mom looked it up. I ended up getting one of the best doctors for Turner syndrome. I then ended up getting a mad lung deformity and had ear infections causing hearing loss, but thought Children’s Hospital, I got the care I needed.

When I was 10 or 11, I started growth hormone to help me grow and then birth control (hormone replacement therapy) around 16. Around that time, I was told I couldn’t have kids. I was upset at first but then I realized I could become a mom in other ways. I knew I had to advocate for TS, so I did a project for science fair and taught people all about it.