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A mother who went bald five years ago is inspiring her daughters who suffer from the same condition.

Rachel Regal, 34, developed alopecia when she was 29 and her daughters, Ellie, 10 and Callie, six, swiftly followed suit.

Rachel, from Northern California, admits that strangers often offer to pay for their dinner in restaurants - because they assume they have cancer.

But the trio are embracing their baldness, with Ms Regal providing her support to her two young daughters to help them overcome any stigma. 

Rachel Regal, 34, developed alopecia when she was 29

Her daughters, Ellie, 10 (right) and Callie, six, (left) swiftly followed suit

Rachel Regal pictured before her hair loss with her two daughters, Ellie and Callie, who now suffer from alopecia with their brother Devin

She said: 'Our faith is the only thing that has got us through the last five years together.

'We've just had to trust that if we stand firm, we will be where we're meant to be.'

She first started to lose her hair at the end of 2011, but doctors have never been able to pinpoint why. 

Shortly after Ms Regal lost her hair, her eldest daughter Ellie began to lose hers at the age of six, causing other children at school to make fun of her. 

But she was comforted by her mother's courage. Rachel said: 'Ellie would say she wanted to be bald and beautiful like me.

'Behind closed doors she was fine, but the world can be cruel and people at school made fun of her.

Ellie, 10, started going bald shortly after her mother lost her hair

Rachel, pictured with daughter Ellie, said: 'Ellie would say she wanted to be bald and beautiful like me'

'I went into her class at school to explain about the condition to her peers and that helped them understand what she was going through, but other kids on the playground weren't so nice.

'I used to sit with her at lunch so she didn't feel alone.'

Ellie's hair completely grew back in 2016 - something doctors never predicted would happen.

Although large bald patches have started to reappear, leaving medical professionals confused. 

Ellie's younger sister Callie, aged six, combs her remaining strands of hair

Ms Regal said: 'For the most part, Ellie accepts it'

Ms Regal said: 'For the most part, Ellie accepts it. She knows there's nothing she can do about it and although she doesn't like it, she gets on with it.

'We thought we might have dodged a bullet with Callie but now she seems to be developing alopecia too at the same age Ellie did.

'I think she will be OK though, since she has her mum and her big sister by her side!'

Rachel, who also has a 15-year-old son called Devin, said of her hair loss: 'I remember standing in the shower looking at the clumps of hair in my hand, clogging up my drain. I was just heartbroken.

'I'd just cry in the shower because it was the only place I could get a moment to myself.

'I shaved my hair in the end because I felt so helpless, and just when I started to accept it, the rest of my body hair fell out too!

'Down to my eyelashes and eyebrows, I had a blank face.' 

Strangers often stop and stare at the family, with some people even picking up their restaurant bill.

Mum Rachel said of Callie, pictured: 'Callie now seems to be developing alopecia too at the same age Ellie did'

An upset Callie shows a chunk of hair which has fallen out during her shower

Rachel said: 'People assume I have cancer and start telling me about a loved one they lost.

'I feel like I can't really say anything to them because they've shared such a deep part of their life with me.

'I appreciate when someone asks me instead, and I'm able to share my story.

'If Ellie and I go out as well, people think we both have cancer which is worse.

'We were in a restaurant once, getting ready to pay and leave when a waiter came over and said the couple next to us had paid for the entire meal. 

Rachel, pictured when she first began losing her hair, admits: 'I'd just cry in the shower because it was the only place I could get a moment to myself'

'I was beyond grateful but the only reason they did that was because they thought we had cancer.

'I even had a lady pay for my groceries once.

'I'd run back to the car to fetch my purse and by the time I got to the cashier, I was told the woman had paid.

'She didn't even stick around for me to say thank you, I was in shock.'