"The world's ugliest woman" set to make documentary about her story

Lizzie Velasquez once called 'the world's ugliest woman,' hopes to reach an even-wider audience through an anti-bullying documentary about her story.

'I know what it is to be bullied and what is to be bullied online, and I want to be the protector of those who think it won't get better,' said Velasquez, 25, who has a rare disease that makes it impossible for her to gain weight. She has never weighed more than 64 pounds and is blind in one eye.

'The idea is that they see the documentary and realize that, yes, it is possible to overcome everything,' she told The Associated Press during an interview in a coffee shop in Austin, Texas.

She's raising money for the film, tentatively titled The Lizzie Project, through a Kick-starter campaign that has already collected more than $123,000 in donations. The campaign, whose trailer can be seen at TheLizzieProject.com, ends May 31. The goal is to raise $180,000.

Born four weeks premature, doctors used a photo to show her to her mother for the first time. 'I started crying inconsolably, but I asked them to bring her to me nevertheless,' said Rita Velasquez. 'I wanted to see her, hold her and love her.'

Her father said Lizzie realized she was different on her first day of kindergarten, when other kids didn't want to play with her. 'We told her about the syndrome and, ever since, (Lizzie) showed great signs of maturity,' he said.

Velasquez says she's not interested in a possible cure for her syndrome.

'No, there is no way, I wouldn't even consider it,' Velasquez said. 'If you had asked me that question when I was 13, I'd probably have said yes. I'd be all for it, I'd do the trial, whatever. But if you ask me that now, I've learned and I've come such a long way to be able to accept who I am and own who I am that, if I changed anything about me I wouldn't be Lizzie, I wouldn't be true to myself.'