‘The placenta was split between them so most of the food was going to Joelle in the womb, who got bigger while her sister Mia got smaller and did not survive. ![]() ‘In fact a few weeks earlier, I had told Joelle for the first time that she had been conceived as one of two identical twins. Michelle says: ‘Even the top experts could not get to the bottom of it, although alopecia can be stress-related. The cause is not known but it is believed that the immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles. The condition is so extreme that every single hair, including body hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, falls out. Celebrity sufferers include comic Matt Lucas. Immediately doctors diagnosed Alopecia Universalis – the most serious form, estimated to affect about one in 100,000 people. Transformation: Joelle, pictured in the wig she wears to school, said everyone has been incredibly supportive after she placed her music video online I tried to hide her hair loss from Joelle but within’ a few weeks all her lovely long brown hair had fallen out. I can still remember my utter shock as it started blocking up the plughole. Mum-of-three Michelle, 44, says: ‘When I brushed her hair after a shower, I saw there were massive patches where I could see her scalp. ![]() Joelle had just finished Year 4 of primary school when her mum, Michelle, noticed that her daughter’s hair was starting to fall out in clumps in the shower. But I am tired of living with the stigma, so I want to be honest about how I really am.’ They thought they could catch alopecia from me or that I was ill. ‘For years, I hid myself away and begged my mum not to send me to school because other kids would call me ‘the girl with cancer’ and ‘clown face’ because I had to draw my eyebrows on when I lost those too. Torment: Joelle, pictured in her music video, has revealed how bullies tormented her over her condition and how she was alienated at school because fellow pupils thought they could catch alopecia from her
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