A mum who was once consumed by shame over her facial hair has revealed how she learned to embrace her beard and says she now feels “more powerful than ever.”
Hope Schmerfeld battled deep insecurities over her facial hair, which is caused by hirsutism, a condition that results in excessive hair growth in women, often triggered by hormonal changes and certain genetic factors.
For decades, the 45-year-old was told she should be ashamed of her beard and did everything she could to remove the hair.
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“It was a source of shame which created insecurities within myself,” Hope, from Oklahoma City, USA, told What’s the Jam.
“My relationship with my body hair was not positive.
“I used to get electrolysis, wax, pluck hairs out of my face and shave.
“It was a daily thing throughout most of my life because there’s so much and it grows fast.”
Hope, who operates laser machines and teaches pole dancing, says her facial hair has made it difficult to find love.
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While she told her closest friends about her condition, she kept it secret from men she dated.
She said: “In regards to any possible intimate relationships, it is a problem.
“I’m a straight woman, and most straight men aren’t attracted to it. I understand and respect that.
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“However, I have been fetishised by both men and women through online platforms.”
Hope first noticed the hair when she was 14 and as it spread across her chest, nipples and stomach, she would spend hours at a time plucking out each individual hair.
Following the birth of her daughter, Aurelia, now 19, her hairiness got even worse, so Hope saw a doctor and was eventually diagnosed in 2015.
Hope even hid it from partners, who would ask why she spend so long in the bathroom.
Sometimes she was forced to shave twice a day because of regrowth.
In 2019, she decided to ditch the tweezers and embrace her natural look following a split from her partner.
While her family, friends and coworkers have always been supportive, Hope says the online world has been far less kind.
She added: “I have and still do receive a lot of criticism and shaming from people in the online community.
“But I absolutely love my hair now.
“I have no regrets when I allow my beard to grow out.
“I finally feel comfortable in my own skin and I accept me fully.
“I don’t receive the criticism and shaming that people throw at me anymore.
‘I’m standing in my power and will continue to do so.”
