0:00:01.589,0:00:04.259
HARNAAM: This is who I am, I'm different and

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I've learnt to accept it fully.

0:00:05.870,0:00:09.110
COMM: Meet the incredible 23-year-old woman,

0:00:09.110,0:00:14.970
Harnaam Kaur who's been growing a beard since[br]the age of 16. And she says she's never felt

0:00:14.970,0:00:15.370
more feminine.

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HARNAAM: It's the way that God made me and

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I'm happy with it.

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COMM: Harnaam from Slough has polycystic ovary

0:00:21.199,0:00:27.789
syndrome which can cause excessive hair growth.[br]She was just eleven when it sorted appearing

0:00:27.789,0:00:28.529
on her face.

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HARNAAM: I would hide it by talking to people

0:00:32.259,0:00:37.280
with my hands over my face. I used to wax[br]it and that became really painful so I would

0:00:37.280,0:00:42.030
just shave it or use different sorts of creams.[br]Um I used to bleach it too.

0:00:42.030,0:00:45.010
COMM: Harnaam endured bullying at school and

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stares from people on the street.

0:00:46.559,0:00:47.719
00:46[br]HARNAAM: The names that people would call

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me were things like beardo instead of weirdo,[br]um she-man, she-male.

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00:54[br]COMM: She's even received death threats after

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posting videos about female facial hair on[br]YouTube.

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HARNAAM: I have had people telling me that

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they're gonna burn me and that they're gonna[br]throw brick at me.

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01:06[br]COMM: At her lowest point she began self harming,

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and even considered taking her own life.

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HARNAAM: I would lock myself in my room, I

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didn't want people to see me because I knew[br]that would lead to more stares.

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COMM: At the age of sixteen, everything changed

0:01:21.090,0:01:24.829
for Harnaam, when she took the decision to[br]be baptised as a Sikh.

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HARNAAM: We need to keep our bodies intact

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the way it was given by God. It was literally[br]at the point where I had enough of people

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bullying me, me feeling down, me having suicidal[br]thoughts, me self harming, I just had enough.

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COMM: The decision proves controversial, even

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Harnaam's own family were against it at first.

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HARNAAM: The concerns that my mum and dad

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had were I won't have a normal life "normal[br]life"I say, as a young girl should have. I

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won't get married, there were concerns about[br]me getting job, how there was no employers

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out there that will employ a bearded lady[br]and such.

0:02:05.209,0:02:07.789
02:04[br]COMM: But she's found support in her 18-year-old

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brother Gurdeep, and friend Surrinder.

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02:09[br]GURDEEP: She's happy living her life, does

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what she wants to do, so it's really good[br]for her, as long as she's happy that's all

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I really care about.

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SURRINDER: For me to see her without the beard

0:02:19.489,0:02:23.010
no I think it would be a shock, it would;t[br]be the same person, I so I think having the

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beard has probably given her a lot of strength[br]etc. to be who she wants to be, to say what

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she wants to say, and y'know just be happy.

0:02:32.219,0:02:34.819
COMM: Harnaam still has to endure stares in

0:02:34.819,0:02:39.530
the street, and is often mistaken for a man.[br]But she's learnt to accept it.

0:02:39.530,0:02:41.239
HARNAAM: I do play around with it a little

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bit because sometimes when I go to the public[br]toilets and someone goes to me um "Oh this

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is the women's" and I actually put on a deep[br]voice and I say no this is for men's. SO I

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kind of play around with it and it's funny[br]because we all end up laughing.

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COMM: Today things are looking hop for Harnaam,

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she works as a primary school teaching assistant,[br]and she's received dozens of messages from

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women and men around the world, who say they[br]love her beard.

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HARNAAM: One guy saw my picture and he goes

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to me, will you marry me?

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COMM: And she hopes her story will encourage

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other women to be more body confident.

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COMM: This is me, this is who I am, it's my

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inner beauty, it's my outer beauty, it's my[br]oneness, it's my wholeness. I'm different

0:03:22.760,0:03:29.760
and I've leant to accept it fully.