I think we all look back on our teen years with a few cringes.
After all, these are the chaotic, hormonal years that are basically defined by awkward first relationships and regrettable hair 'dos galore.
For most of us, it's a part of our lives we look back on fondly but would never repeat — not even if you gave us a million dollars!
Emerging into your twenties, while challenging in its own way, is usually a huge relief after amped-up emotions and dramas of your teen years.
But for journalist Ken Baker, the teen years were really just a warm-up; things wouldn't really hit the fan until he was in his late twenties.
That's because Baker, without realizing it, skipped puberty for more than a decade before finally confronting it head-on at age 27.
Scroll through below to read more details on the stranger-than-fiction story behind Baker's delayed adolescence, which is the inspiration for his memoir and an upcoming film, both called The Late Bloomer.
Born in 1970 in upstate New York, Ken Baker had a pretty typical childhood.
He grew up in a stoic family where masculinity was a point of pride, and he never struggled to fit in as a guys' guy.
All of that changed when he reached his early teen years.
In his pre-teen years, he started to go through puberty, losing baby fat and gaining a deeper voice as he went.
Then, around 14, it was like his puberty experience suddenly screeched to a halt, though there weren't any outward signs.
Baker was a popular high school hockey player and had a steady girlfriend, but he didn't really feel driven by the hormonal urges that most teenage boys experience.
As he got older and went off to college, Baker concluded that he simply had a low sex drive, and that was the explanation for his lack of interest in physical relationships.
But there were other signs, too: Despite being a talented enough hockey goalie to play professionally for a season, he was nicknamed "Pear" on his sports teams for his round waist and slightly pudgy physique.
He only needed to shave his beard about once a month, and he was growing worried that his lack of sex drive might signal that something was physically wrong.
In his twenties, Baker's low-level anxieties about his sex drive reached a new urgency when he began to experience disturbing new symptoms.
He began to experience intense headaches and exhaustion, but most alarming of all, he had begun to lactate, expressing milk from his nipples, much like a new mom.
With urging from a friend, this was the final straw, and Baker went to a doctor to try to figure out why he was experiencing these symptoms.
The doctor discovered that Baker had an inch-long tumor pressing in his brain, specifically on his pituitary gland.
The tumor, called a prolactinoma, was behind his low sex drive, his undefined body, and behind the lactation.
They were able to remove almost all of the tumor and put Baker on a drug to suppress the remaining effects.
Almost overnight, Baker went through instant puberty at the ripe old age of 27.
His whole body went through a massive overhaul, and Baker finally had a solution for the problems that he had struggled with for more than a decade.
Three years after discovering the tumor, he met his wife, Brooke.
Now in his forties, Baker and Brooke have two kids of their own, and Baker works as a senior correspondent on E! News.
He wrote his memoir, The Late Bloomer, both to explore his own past and the challenges of that time in his life, but also to start a frank conversation around a topic that's taboo for a lot of men.
By openly discussing lactation and low sex drive, Baker is opening the door for other men to talk about — and seek help with — uncomfortable issues in their own lives, from mental health anxieties to body image hangups.
If you're impressed by Baker's willingness to start a conversation, learn more by reading The Late Bloomer and checking out the movie.
And don't forget to SHARE Baker's compelling story with friends and family!
