The world’s “shortest couple” is now officially engaged and hope that their love will be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Paulo Gabriel da Silva Barros, 30, recently proposed to his girlfriend Katyucia Hoshino, 27, at a dinner with close friends in their hometown of Itupeva, Brazil.
Barros, who stands at 34.8 inches, has a rare genetic condition called diastrophic dysplasia dwarfism, a disorder that affects his cartilage and bone development. The disorder affects about 1 in 100,000 newborns and can be found in all populations, though it is especially common in Finland.
Hoshino, who stands at 35.2 inches, has the most common type of short-limbed dwarfism known as achondroplasia dwarfism. The condition, which is characterized by the body’s inability to convert cartilage to bone, occurs in 1 in 15,000 to 40,000 newborns.
According to Daily Mail, the couple have been dating and living together for eight years. They met on social media and began connecting over MSN messenger soon after. However, Hoshino said she found Barros a nuisance and blocked him on her chat.
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“The first time I started talking to Paulo, he was very annoying. He had cheap chat up lines.”
After unblocking him nearly a year and a half later, the two reconnected. Recently, Barros proposed to Hoshino at a sushi restaurant in front of close friends. He said:
“As everyone knows, we’ve been together for eight years living and dating. And we haven’t got married yet. And since you are friends that have accompanied our journey for a long time, I wanted to share this with you and ask her to marry me.”
Barros decided to speak from the heart when popping the question to Hoshino. He said:
“Everything I researched, everything I planned on saying, I am going to forget it. I am going to do what my heart tells me. Everything is going to be improvised.”
Hoshino was initially in disbelief, but she is excited to be dress hunting. She said:
“This is the best part of getting married. After the marriage proposal I still feel shocked. The most important thing for me today is the pursuit of happiness. I think it’s about love and gratitude, always.”
Barros is excited in anticipation of his wedding date, but also about the prospect of being named as the world’s shortest couple.
“Once we get married we will try to be recognized as the world’s smallest couple through the Guinness World Records.”
