A 28-year-old California woman has learned to embrace living with a debilitating disease that has forced her to look and act just like a fragile doll.

In an interview with Mirror.co.uk, Amber Guzman opened up about how muscular dystrophy has transformed the last 10 years of her life.

She was first diagnosed with the genetic condition, which progressively weakens and wastes body muscles, shortly after she got married at the age of 18. As a result, she is too weak to walk for long distances and often has to be picked up and carried around, just like a real-life baby doll. The incurable disease has also made it impossible for her to swallow food, which causes her to have a tiny frame.

However, in order to cope with the crippling condition, Guzman said that she has embraced the look and lifestyle of a "Human Barbie."

"A true living doll is what I am, not only in my looks but physically," she told Mirror.

"Just like a doll needs help to move everything on its body to get around, I am the same way. Because of my muscular dystrophy, I always need to be picked up or set down in a seat just like a doll does," she said.

"And it also makes me look skinny, which a lot of people say is like a Barbie too."

In addition to accepting her life with the disease, she is also proud of her comparisons to a Barbie doll.

"I love being compared to a living doll. It is what I truly feel like I am now and I'm happy to be one. Being a doll has saved me," she says.

Guzman's unique story and look has even helped her gain thousands of fans on social media.

"I began dressing in a Dolly style wearing wigs and contact lenses and started posting videos online," she said. She has her own YouTube channel, called "Amber Living With Dystrophy"

In addition to becoming an Internet sensation, Guzman says she receives fan mail every week.

"I soon had fans writing to me telling me how they were inspired by me and how I was their role model. I have also gained two clothes sponsorship deals," she said.

"I also use my videos to raise awareness of muscular dystrophy and show people with any illness that there is a life to live after a major diagnosis.

"I am the true living doll in every way possible. There's no one like me."