Woman with PCOS shows off full beard, inspires others to love their facial hair

A woman who suffers from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and has been left with a full beard as a result has shared how she’s learnt to embrace her body hair.

Nova Galaxia, 26, from Virginia first started to develop facial and body hair when she hit puberty.

But she decided to hide what was happening to her body until, after three years she finally admitted it to her parents and went on to be diagnosed with PCOS.

According to the NHS PCOS is a common condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work.

Thanks to the high levels of “male hormones” in women with the condition, one of the most common side effects of PCOS is the growth of dark hair on your face and body.

Despite being perfectly natural, excess hair is often seen as a beauty taboo, which is why women often feel pressure to remove it.

And even after her diagnosis, Nova continued to shave her facial hair.

“I started shaving everything always. I was nervous that I would be looked at as a freak,” she told TV presenters Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield on ‘This Morning’.

“It was basically a demon that I had to keep hidden from everyone. If I wanted to go to sleepover parties or go out of town with people I always had to hide my routine, I had to hide my whole process. If I forgot a razor, I would have a meltdown,” she told the hosts.

That all changed when Nova met her partner who encouraged her to embrace her body hair as part of her.

“We both have the view that our bodies are our own and we love each other for our personalities,” she explained.

Nova was further inspired by model Harnaam Kaur, who also has PCOS and sports a full beard.

“It wasn’t until I saw a model that has the same condition that I have and she is drop-dead gorgeous and amazing and super confident, and it wasn’t until I saw her that I just realised it’s okay – I can be like that too. I can embrace everything that I have and be happy with it,” she explains.

After having a body confidence wobble about showing her face in public, Nova finally realised she needed to fully accept her appearance, facial hair and all.

“It was something that held me back for so long and something that I hated about myself…once I stopped it was like I was rebelling against that hate. And it felt amazing,” she continued.

And viewers were quick to take to social media to applaud Nova for her new found body positivity.

“This lady’s beard really is magnificent! She looks super cool (and also like an absolute bad ass). #thismorning I can’t grow a beard so am a bit jealous :O,” one user wrote.

“PCOS is such an overlooked condition, mine is nowhere near as bad as this lady’s, but you do you ,” another user wrote.

“It’s nice to see nova not caring how she look anymore, Lettie from the greatest showman sang the perfect song “I am brave, I am bruised ‪I am who I’m meant to be, this is me” ‪this is how everyone should live life,” another used added.

Nova isn’t the only woman to speak out about her battle with PCOS. Earlier this year Leah Jorgensen, a 33-year-old behavioural health technician from Wisconsin revealed that she’d decided to embrace her excess body hair by ditching her razor.

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