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The whole process was super long and hard. I first lost my hair when I was 10 years old within only one month. Being so young, living in a small town and especially during a time with no social media, made it all even more difficult. I felt so alone and like a complete alien. I could find no one that looked like me. I went through a big depression as a kid.

Everybody looked the exact same where I grew up. So, for me, the obvious “solution” to that “problem” was to hide my bald head. I wore wigs from 10 to 12 years old. Nobody knew for a fact that I was bald. Some people were asking questions obviously and some children would try to pull on my wig but it never fell off. I actually do not have that many memories of those two years with a wig.

Today, I feel like the situation would be different. With social media, the world being a little more accepting and progressively promoting more diversity, it is finally possible for children with alopecia to find people to identify with.

Thankfully my hair grew back during high school so for 7 years I “only” had bald patches to hide.

It took me 9 years before I publicly started to talk about it and truly accept it. Nine years is a long time when you are hiding something! What truly helped me is meeting other people with alopecia through an organisation in the US called Children Alopecia Project.

Then, I lost my hair again when I was 19. That’s when everything changed. I truly decided that this time would be different and that I would do anything I could to be the person I was looking for as a child.