I am 51 years old and dealing with hair loss since I was 19. I am an identical twin, and we both experienced hair loss at the same time in our lives, which seems to support the hereditary link. There were and are no other relatives that we know about who experienced this. After 31 years of dealing with this issue, there have been many cruel and insensitive comments. I remember every one. I think every boyfriend I ever had has asked at one time about my hair loss and some asked in a cruel manner. I was recently married and the day after my wedding an old friend visited for a post wedding celebration. I hadn’t seen her for a long time (mind you she is a grown woman). She sat in my kitchen, in a roomful of people and described running into an old, longtime forgotten mutual friend. She told this woman that she was going to be traveling to my wedding and “of course you remember Debbie, you know, the woman with the really thin hair”. Then she said, “I told her how could you forget Debbie, I mean, she has the thinnest hair I have ever seen!” This she said in my kitchen, in front of my new husband, other guests and the day after my wedding!!!! I was appalled, sad, ashamed, etc. Thankfully others were not listening intently, engaged in their own conversations, but nevertheless, the words hung there for eternity for me.
There is a woman in my neighborhood that I avoid, because she gazes absently above my forehead when I am speaking to her (my loss is due to male pattern baldness). She doesn’t look in my eyes when I speak. I don’t know if she does this absently or on purpose.
Going to the hair stylist is always stressful, especially if the chair I am sitting is not private enough. Usually the stylists are empathetic and they tell me that they see hair loss often. It’s the other customers who absently gaze at my head while they themselves are being serviced. I have left good stylists just because their salons do not offer privacy.
My aging mother who has never had this problem, is now losing her hair to the aging process. She still has more hair that my sister and I. Her comment? “I am devastated. My hair is beginning to look like you girls (meaning my sister and I).
There have been so many other words that hurt. I have a beautiful 18 year old daughter who has not experienced this kind of hair loss yet and I am worried about her. I don’t want her to suffer as I have and my sister. She is on the pill for lack of a period (Nortrel, which I have never seen mentioned here). So far, no hair loss thankfully. [click to continue…]
{ 22 comments }
Yesterday I was talking to my mom on the phone and she was telling me about a little girl she saw at the store that reminded her of me as a kid. She said “the little girl had 
I get a lot of emails regarding the specific androgen index of birth control pills. I haven’t found the full and complete definitive list available online, however, the 
One of our members in the 
Just to reiterate what many other women have said, this website is a wonderful and empowering resource. Here’s my story:
The Women’s Hair Loss Project is looking for creative, passionate and knowledgeable volunteer hair loss writers to write original articles for our blog. You must have a good command of the English language and be able to effectively communicate your thoughts through words. You don’t have to be a professional writer by any means, just need to be passionate and with a desire to help other women and write articles that other female hair loss sufferers can relate to and learn from.
I cannot believe I have not written about this before. So many women want to be able to test their hormones for imbalances, but either cannot get their doctor to do it, or cannot get it does as frequently as they would like. There is an online service called 
