Life with no limbs will seem to many like an incredible struggle but for online content creator Briel Adams-Wheatley has proven throughout her life that it is also limitless.
The beauty influencer was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil to parents who attempted an abortion too late, and she was diagnosed with Hanhart Syndrome, a condition which meant that she was born without any of her limbs.
After her parents abandoned her, she was adopted by a family in Utah and moved to the United States, growing up as a man before transitioning into a woman a few years ago.
Briel now shares content online with her husband Adam, who she matched with on Tinder back in February 2020, with the married couple proving that love conquers all.
Advert
In her videos, which she posts to an audience of over five million people on Tik Tok and over one million on Instagram, Briel is extremely honest about her personal life and the daily challenges she has faced with no limbs.
But one question a lot of fans ask is how her husband dealt with the news that she was planning to transition, having met and proposed when she still identified as a man.
In a recent video, she said: “I started my transition a year after we got married, right?”
Adam replied: “I think so, but you told me way before everybody else.”
Briel then explained: “Yeah, I had also told him a little bit before we got married, too that I was having feelings about it, but I just wasn't sure if it was something I was comfortable with, actually fully going into and just keeping suppressed. And if he was comfortable with it and everything.
"But Adam was the first person to know before everyone. And I waited a few months before I did it publicly as well. I already started a few things behind the scenes.”
Adam, who is a regular feature on the videos and who showed 'initiative' on the first date at a board games cafe where he helped her to play, also explained why he 'couldn't care less' about her transition.
He said: "I'm very happy that she found who she is. And I've seen a big difference in her happiness and confidence and everything. But I mean, I fell in love with her and not what she was, just who she was,” he said.
He also spoke candidly about adjusting during that period, adding: “It was hard going from like pronouns for more than one reason. One, because I knew before everybody else. So I had to use he/him in front of people, and I couldn't remember who she had told yet or not.
"And so it was really confusing to use one thing at home and another [outside their home]. And then as soon as I got the pronouns under control, she changed her name and then started wearing wigs.
"It was just a lot of learning, learning, learning, learning, learning. But it was a good journey. She was patient with me.”
James Moorhouse