Adele has shared some great thoughts about pregnancy during her 2016 tour, her first since giving birth to a son in 2012. Last week, she told a crowd in London her thoughts on people pressuring women to breastfeed, using the precise words "go f*** yourself." And she made an amazing confession to the crowd at her show in Glasgow: She grew a beard while pregnant with her son. Not just any beard, though, a beard she named "Larry."
“When I got pregnant, I had so much testosterone in me that I grew a beard,” she said during the show, according to The Mirror. “I only cropped it last night. It’s actually true. I’m not telling a joke. I actually have a beard, but I’m proud of it. I call it Larry.”
Well, her naming her beard Larry isn't that much of a surprise—she told Ellen DeGeneres last month the creative nicknames she has for her vagina. But it left us wondering: Is growing a beard during pregnancy something to be concerned about? Turns out it's common for women to have more hair growth in areas including their face, arms, legs, and back while pregnant.
An increased amount of hormones during pregnancy is responsible for the new areas of growth, explains Iffath Hoskins, M.D. and ob/gyn professor at NYU Langone Medical Center. She tells SELF that during pregnancy, a woman experiences an increase in estrogen, which can—among other things—make a woman’s skin smooth and glowing, and cause her hair to grow like crazy and shed less. The result can be a radiant complexion and the lushest locks you’ve ever had. Score.
At the same time, an increase in a woman’s levels of testosterone—a typically male hormone that’s found in low amounts in all women—can cause what Adele calls fondly “Larry,” AKA increased hair growth in new areas.
So, does it change back to normal right after pregnancy? Not quite. Hoskins says it typically takes about two to three weeks for a woman's hormones to go back to baseline after giving birth. Still, that might not solve the hair issue.
"Once the hair growth has been activated and the trigger has started, it may take up for a few months for that to settle down," she says. "And it’s very possible that that quantity will remain higher than it was before she got pregnant. It is one of the things that can remain over a long time. I don’t want to say permanently, but in the first few months up to a year, it may remain."
She says it doesn't make sense to play with hormone levels to try and get rid of the hair growth. Instead, she recommends standard techniques like bleaching, waxing, electrolysis or using a hair removal cream if you're not happy with your new fuzz.
Adele, thank you for introducing us to Larry. You keep doing you.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
