Sorry to tell you that although stretch marks fade to a silvery line over time, they never go. The skin is permanently damaged.

Also I have been writing a blog (unpublished at present) for several months and it’s an amazing way to pull out all sorts of thoughts, feelings, ideas about oneself and life.

Living with CAH adds another whole dimension to the type of ’garbage’ that has been tucked away for so long.  Once you start writing thoughts down, it’s amazing some of the past events which you begin to remember. You start to piece together these events and their connections to having CAH - both on a physical and the psychological level..

I am aware that there are strong elements of unpleasant memories for any lifelong chronic illness but I think in conditions classed as, for want of a better word ’Intersex’ (and don’t jump down my throat for categorising CAH as such) there is another whole dimension again which is not present in other chronic conditions.

Well done Steph on your courage to write and make available your blog.