A mother who began sprouting thick facial hair after the
birth of her son 28 years ago says she's feeling sexier and more
confident than ever before, having finally stopped trying to get
rid of her beard.
The German-born woman, identified only as Mariam, appeared on
ITV's This Morning to discuss
why she stopped tweezing the hair on her face which she had been
plucking every day for almost two
decades.
Mariam, 49, also explained to Holly Willoughby and Philip
Schofield that she is happy with the way she looks and would not
change her situation, despite being criticised for her behaviour by
her own mother.
She also said she is able to look past the comments of
internet trolls who target her bearded woman
blog to tell her 'people like me should be sent
to Russia... or shot'.
Mariam - who has had tests to rule out serious medical
problems more associated with excessive hair growth in women - told
Phil and Holly, along with expert Dr Carol Cooper, that she had
never had any facial hair before the birth of her son, after which
it gradually began growing.
Ten years on, the hair was growing thick enough for a full
beard, and Mariam would laboriously tweeze out each hair every
morning.
'I asked my mother what to do and she told me to tweeze them,
never to shave or wax. And then I visited my gynaecologist who said
it happened to lots of other women so I shouldn't worry. But they
didn't really give me a reason. Now I know it must be
inherited
'My chin got really red and inflamed from all the plucking,
and some of the hairs were ingrown, so it always looked like I'd
fallen on my chin. But when people asked what had happened and I
told them they couldn't believe it.'
In 2008, when she was living alone and unemployed, Mariam
decided to give her beard a chance to grow. She said: 'I had no job
so I had free time to give it a chance and see what happened, so I
started a blog to inform other women about it, and to see what was
happening every day and how I felt.
Mariam explained to Holly and Phil that prior to her
'experiment' plucking her beard had become an obsession, and that
her son, who has not been named, used to remember it taking her
hours to leave the house.
She added: 'I thought about it all the time. I had to double
check before leaving the house that it was OK, and take a mirror in
my pocket. That was life.
'When I decided to let it grow it didn't feel brave, it was
more like a curiosity. I wanted to see hwat would happen to me.
There was a big fear that everyone would turn away and nobody would
talk to me anymore.'
And Mariam did meet some resistance - from her
family.
'My mum said "do you have to shock people like this". Then
she got used to it and thought that one day I'd finish it, and was
patient, but now she's getting nervous and wants me to stop and
become "normal".'
She received negative reactions from other people, too,
especially on the internet: 'People can be cruel depending on where
you go.
'Some people say people like me should be sent to Russia or
shot, but that's just one person on the internet writing horrible
stuff. Other people say it's courageous and inspiring. So there are
both sides.'
Mariam now travels with a circus as the bearded lady act,
which she says she enjoys since she has studied acting in the past
and also likes educating people about the issue.
She said: 'I want to give people the opportunity to talk to a
bearded lady, because usually they are too scared in the
street.'
Mariam, who has been single for a decade, also says she is
looking for a relationship now that she is feeling sexy and more
confident. She told Holly that even if she could she would not
change her situation.
'I know myself more now,' she said.
'There are always people with a fetish who might only be attracted
by the beard, but that is the same with lots of things, even if I
were a blonde woman.
'I tried
electrolysis three times but it just grew back - and now I'm
happy with it. It is sometimes annoying when I go shopping but
otherwise it has given me other opportunities.
Dr Cooper
explained that it is fairly common for women to have facial hair
they do not want, but if it comes on suddenly - especially if
accompanied by other symptoms such as weight gain and irregular
periods - you should see your GP since it could be to do with
excessive of androgen hormones.
