I have been doing a daily blog on another website lately but this is totally alopecia related and I'm kind of excited about this new information I thought I'd share it with my Alopecia World family! Over the last year or so I've come into contact with my biological family, I was adopted at birth and my aunt just told me the coolest thing today. Apparently I look and act very much like my grandmother in certain ways who has unfortunately passed away now but the coolest part is is that she too had alopecia!

I can only imagine how hard it must have been for her since she felt she had to hide it with all her might and it was never talked about. She had no hair at all, she wore a wig and drew her eyebrows on and no one ever saw her bald for the exception of maybe my grandfather. She would put all her makeup on before she even left her bedroom in the morning. My aunt (who is my biological uncles wife) noticed she didn't have hair on her arms either.

This has been such an exciting venture for me, getting to know my biological family. Not only do I look like other people now but one of them was even hairless. My mother and aunt suffer from ataxia which can be autoimmune as well but both parents need to carry the gene for the child to develop it so it is also a genetic factor for some if not all types of ataxia. In my case the alopecia skipped a generation so it will be interesting to see if one day I have alopecian grandchildren - wouldn't that be cool?

Back in my grandmother's day though, alopecia was something you hid and were made to feel ashamed of, especially living in such a small community. We have to be greatful that awareness and acceptance has come such a long way since. Even in the last decade I've noticed many more of us coming out of the closet about it and some of even make a point to increase the awareness through many means. We have to thank these people for their efforts because it is hard to introduce an odd concept such as essentially being allergic to your own hair to the public. I'll admit I've done my share of it simply by going out bald and informing onlookers. I've even dealt with some folks who think it's odd and managed to change their point of view.

It's interesting too that scientists are discovering possible genetic links these days and are beginning to think that this may be far more genetic than previously thought. It saddens me that as a Canadian I cannot participate in much concerning research however that's not to say I don't keep my eyes peeled for new information and make inquiries of my own. I know I'm not alone in my plight but to know that someone else in my biological family was affected I somehow feel even less alone now. This is one case where finding out about someone else having alopecia was actually exciting! Have a great day cause I know my spirits are lifted now. :)