(Sept. 16) -- Every adopted child wonders who his biological mother is. Movie star? Rock star? Maybe a big-shot CEO? For Richard Lorenc, she turned out to be the last thing he ever imagined: a sideshow bearded lady.
The 33-year-old Kansas man had always been curious about his birth parents, but with a wife and two young daughters, he was busy making a life of his own. After a recent back injury led to multiple medical exams and many questions about his family medical history, he decided it was time to start digging.
His search began this past spring, when he filed a request with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services to find his biological parents.
 Courtesy of Richard Lorenc After 33 years, Richard Lorenc has reunited with his biological mother, a bearded woman named Vivian Wheeler, in Bakersfield, Calif.
Six weeks later he received a letter from the department saying it had the identity of his mother: Vivian Wheeler, now 62.
It also informed him that both his mother and his maternal grandmother had hypertrichosis, known as werewolf syndrome. Each had facial hair, even as children. The letter further stated that his mother was born a hermaphrodite, with both male and female reproductive organs.
Wheeler's facial fuzz had appeared at birth with an inch and a half of light hair covering her cheeks and chin. She says her mother wanted a daughter, and doctors were instructed to remove the male parts.
Wheeler claimed her father was humiliated by his bearded little girl, but it didn't prevent him from capitalizing on her condition. She began working in sideshows at an early age, earning money to send home to her family. |
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