Do not give up on love, says this young woman with vitiligo

Are you tired of rejections during dating due to vitiligo and now thinking to give up on love?

Well, this young woman’s lively journey of finding love will inspire you to give it another try because there is definitely someone out there who is cut out just for you and will accept you just the way you are.

Giving up on love is not an option because eventually you want a partner, isn’t it?

You just need to start taking rejections lightly and keep exploring.

With vitiligo as a non-deniable part of your personality, this journey of finding true love will be harder at times but it will be all worth it in the end. You just need to be more courageous and honest about your priorities.

If someone has a problem with accepting vitiligo as an integral part of your personality, it’s a serious red flag that you should never ignore. It’s better to end such a heartless relationship and focus on yourself instead.

Before you meet your ‘dream’ partner who would accept your vitiligo, you need to embrace it yourself. Once you start loving yourself, it makes you incredibly attractive and sooner than later, you will meet the person who would love every single thing about you, including vitiligo. 

Stacey’s love story that will make you believe in love all over again!

Stacey Williams is a beautiful and confident young woman living with vitiligo from a young age. Living with vitiligo for almost 2 decades, she has had her share of ups and downs in life. Today, Stacey is more confident than ever, standing at such a point in her life where she can inspire others (having a similar condition) to not give up, no matter how bad the situation appears.

Stacey says that she has had the hardest time in the field of dating. Well, we all know that Vitiligo isn’t a very acceptable skin condition in the society which leads the people with vitiligo to develop a sense of insecurity and self-doubt.

Stacey was no exception and it took a lot for her to develop this confidence that she wears today as her brightest accessory. We are so happy to see that she has also found her soul mate through this journey which was a roller-coaster ride for her.

Here is Stacey’s tale that she shares with pride to motivate others and make them believe that everyone deserves to be loved, no matter how they look.

Living with vitiligo is challenging

Stacey has vitiligo since she was a young kid. One day while playing she got a cut on the skin that later healed into a white spot which started spreading all over her body, mostly on her arms and legs. Just as in case of a child with vitiligo, her family made all sorts of efforts, but vitiligo could not be reversed. Rather, it kept on spreading and now, it has become quite stable.

Stacey was bullied enough by the other children in her class for her ‘weird’ skin. It was not only the children in the school, but some random adults in the supermarket, restaurant or other public places would also give uncomfortable stares and sometimes make comments.

After so many years, when she revisits those experiences, she doesn’t blame her classmates as they were just young kids reacting to her uneven skin tone but what about those adults who misbehaved? She has an innocent condition which never harmed anyone, but the lack of awareness and shallow mentality is so deep rooted among some people that they just can’t let it go and treat people equally, irrespective of their outer appearances.

Today she has largely accepted herself and started loving the skin she is in. But it’s a work in progress and still a long way to go. She still sometimes prefers to wear a full sleeve top on a hot summer day instead of a tank top when going out because she can’t stand those insensitive remarks from people around. It’s frustrating, but this is how it is when you are living with a chronic skin condition.

Everyone with vitiligo have bad days so how can I be an exception. But, as I started making peace with it, I do not beat myself up anymore when living through such a day. Rather, I allow myself to release the emotions of anger, frustration and self-blame to put it behind soon. It’s a clear cut sign that I am making some decent progress!

To keep her spirits high, she follows and draws motivation from vitiligo advocates and body positivity champions on Instagram. Social media plays a huge role in helping her build on her own self-acceptance journey.

In today’s world of social media, it is quite easy to connect with fellow vitiligo heroes from every part of the world. Talking to them, sharing emotions and realizing that you are not alone is so comforting.

Meeting her boyfriend and becoming a couple

Stacey met her boyfriend Adam when she was in the 10^th standard. She got to know from a friend that he has a crush on her and she also liked him. So, they started getting to know each other but she changed her school and they reunited after a gap of 2 years in the 12^th standard.

Things now started to get pretty serious between them. Both of them were much more mature than before and things were better than ever. They would go on dates 2-3 times a month, talk on phone till late night, attend each other’s sports matches and would spend time together in the school whenever possible; you know all that high school stuff.

All of their friends were already of their relationship and just to make it official, they finally updated their Facebook relationship status from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship’.

Before Adam, Stacey briefly dated a few guys, but she quickly realized that they didn’t deserve her.

If a guy doesn’t say it, but his behavior indicates that he is ashamed to be with you because you have a patchy skin, he simply doesn’t deserve you. Get out of that meaningless relationship immediately.

Stacey’s skin de-pigmentation is quite noticeable, so as they become official, she decided to pour her heart out and share everything about vitiligo- its medical aspect, various treatments she has tried, how it has affected her emotionally and her quest to become more open and confident about it. Also revealed it to him that it may further spread with time as it’s not in her hands really.

Adam was a good listener and that just boosted her morale because for the first time in a while, someone was truly listening to her and acknowledging her feelings.

It felt great and built an emotional intimacy between them.

The unconditional acceptance (of vitiligo) by the boyfriend has a huge positive impact

For Adam, her skin condition was a non-issue as he found her beautiful and attractive inside and out. Adam told her that he has accepted her skin long back and he was never bothered by it anyways. For him, she is the prettiest girl in the world!

I always had this special feeling for Adam and kind of always knew that he was the one for her. But, was anxious if vitiligo is a big deal for him. To be honest, I never thought that I would ever find someone who would accept, embrace and love me for who I am with vitiligo. Now, as vitiligo doesn’t matter to him at all, I just could not ask for more.

His unconditional acceptance of vitiligo took their relationship to a new level of comfort where she would not think twice before discussing almost anything.

Also, on the deeper level, his companionship has helped me immensely become more comfortable and confident with vitiligo.

In short, this relationship has completely transformed her life for all the good reasons.

When people say “there is someone out there just for you” they are not lying. Someone who would accept you as you are without wanting to change anything in you. It’s just a matter of time as you come across that awesome person. So, keep exploring, keep trying and never give up.