For most, the car crash emotions and the sudden rampant sex drive that comes with puberty hits them in their teens.
But this wasn't the case for journalist Ken Baker, now 46. While teenage boys around him were developing, his shoulders remained narrow. During this time, he secreted white fluid from his nipples - 10 times more than a breastfeeding mum.
Baker has recently revealed his torment from how a brain tumour delayed the onset of puberty and suppressed his sex drive until he was 27 years old.
Never to pass judgement on late developers, I believe that puberty is a pretty confusing time in anyone's life. For Baker, though, living in the bright lights of Los Angeles, this led to a series of embarrassing situations.
As a young adult, Baker struggled massively to hold down a girlfriend because he was unable to get an erection when things got serious.
Finally, when he was 27 and settled with a supportive partner, he decided to seek medical advice.
An MRI scan confirmed that a brain tumour had delayed puberty in his body. "The chestnut-sized growth, called a prolactinoma, was causing my pituitary gland to over-secrete the female hormone," Baker said in an interview with the New York Post. "The specialists said it was one of the rarest cases they had ever seen."
After surgery and taking testosterone medication, the transformation started happening.
"All of a sudden, especially after the operation, I turned into a horny teenager who saw sex everywhere," Baker said. "I lived in Santa Monica and rollerbladed along the beach. 'How did I not notice that so many women are wearing bikinis?' I thought."
His sex drive soared through the roof, which forced him to reluctantly to break things off with his then girlfriend. After that, Baker slept with six women in the space of a few months while battling with acne.
He was suffering with what most people naturally confront during their teens. While most people going through puberty only have to worry about the school grades they are or aren't going to achieve, Baker had the weight of adult life of his shoulders.
In 2001, he put his experience into a book, Man Made. His story has recently been made into a film, The Late Bloomer, which will be released this year.
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Video credit: YouTube/Zero Media/Eclectic Pictures
Speaking about family life today, he said: "I don't keep anything bottled up anymore. We've created an environment where the kids feel free to talk about not just their feelings, but their bodies. If I've learned anything, it's important to speak your truth.
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"That's why I'm delighted with the movie and am willing to tell my vulnerable story again."
I'm sure Bakers public story will prevent others going through what he did for so long.
Featured image credit: Twitter/@kenbakernow
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Topics: Film