Model, TV presenter, A-list socialite and media darling, Anna Fitzpatrick shares her story about living life with Alopecia...

When I was 7 I started loosing my hair very rapidly. First it was my left eyelashes, then an eyebrow, soon it was tuffs of hair and then after two weeks it was all gone. Finally a few weeks later I was diagnosed with Alopecia Universallis.

Alopecia comes in varying degrees and my type is the worst. I have full body hair loss and as I was an early onset sufferer it is even less likely to grow back. Alopecia affects 0.1% of the population and Alopecia Universallis affects 0.01% of the population.

It was tough growing up with Alopecia, kids are mean and I was bullied until I was about 13. I find that kids often bully when they are scared of something and they don't understand it. Not a lot of people knew about Alopecia, that is slowly starting to change, and that is why so many people find it a really emotionally hard disease to deal with. There is not a lot of support and because we are physically healthy Alopecia is often passed over as not 'that bad'. Some people never recover from the emotional strain of loosing their hair and never show their bald head to family members, husbands, children and friends. I was much like that until my teens.

It wasn't until Sara Tetro's 62 Models approached me to start modeling that I built up my self confidence and self worth. I was terrified going to that first meeting as I knew I would have to tell them I wore a wig, I was sure they wouldn’t want to sign me. Lucky for me I was wrong; the team was really excited when they found out about my unique look. New Zealand's fashion industry is a lot edgier than others and often pushes the boundaries so my different look helped boost my career. I modeled for Zambesi, Nom*D, Karen Walker and World to name a few. It wasn't until I learnt to look at my Alopecia in a new light that I realised I was beautiful, just in my own unique way. Funnily enough if I didn't have Alopeica I would not have had such a successful career. With my wig on I am very commercial and not very different to other girls on model agencies books.

It was standing back and learning to accept myself that made me break out of my shell and become confident within myself. That doesn't mean I don't have my bad days, but I am still 100% accepting of my condition now. In fact I would be upset if my hair grew back. I have fabulous Freedom Wigs that you can swim in, style, cut and dye like normal hair and because of this I can change my hair style whenever I want. Plus there is the small thing of never having to shave my legs or get my bikini line waxed. There are positives in everything, you just have to look.