And women fly to Turkey for hair transplants

Glenda Kenneth lively she remembers the day she noticed her hair was falling out. “I had shoulder-length hair within six months [moving to the U.S.] I had lost half of it,” he says.

Kenneth, a 38-year-old woman in Fort Worth, Texas, had just immigrated from Nigeria to attend graduate school when the issue began. At first attributing her hair loss to stress, Kenneth tried various remedies, including her own homemade hair oils, but the problem persisted.

So she decided to cut her hair short and ditch the hair relaxers to let it grow naturally. By 2023, she had her hair back, but a month after her back surgery, she noticed her hair thinning even more. He wondered if this was related to the anesthesia he received for that procedure. Although there is no clinical data behind this theory, some experts believe that anesthesia may cause temporary hair loss. And since any major surgery can be a shock to your body, a procedure can also disrupt your hair growth cycle.

A visit to the dermatologist came with the terrifying diagnosis that Kenneth’s hair wasn’t just falling out—he was apparently dealing with scars on her scalpwhich can be linked to destruction of hair follicles. This led her to consider a hair transplant. “Every year I do something to feel more beautiful. This would have been just another procedure I had done to feel more confident,” says Kenneth. “Hair transplantation is also an option for us women.”

Kenneth’s story is far from unique. Turkey is known as a global hub for medical tourism, and yet traveling for a hair transplant were usually men, women also make the journey to regain their self-esteem with the procedures.

Estenove, a hair transplant clinic in Istanbul, shares that most of its female patients are between the ages of 25 and 34, with a significant portion flying in from the United States. Each month, the clinic treats about 90 to 120 female patients, along with 350 to 450 male patients. Although there are significantly fewer female clients, these numbers, however, seem to signal a growing trend: women are adopting hair transplants (including eyebrow transplants) as a viable solution to hair loss, which is often hormonal for them, especially in relation to menopause or childbirth.

Dr. Zafer Çetinkaya, a surgeon at Estenove with 10 years of experience in hair transplantation, explains the procedure: Women usually choose DHI, or direct hair implantation. It takes six hours to complete and involves extracting hair follicles from a donor area before implanting them directly into thinning areas, with no incisions required.

“Most women don’t need to shave their entire head. Only the donor area may need a small shave, making the procedure less invasive and more discreet,” says Çetinkaya. But because of the extent of Kenneth’s hair loss, she was among the small percentage – between 5% and 10% – of female patients who must shave their heads completely to get enough hair grafts to cover both their hairlines and their crowns, Kenneth tells me two weeks after her procedure.

“People would say to me, ‘You know your hair is thinning?’ Well, I have a mirror,” says Kenneth. “I was so self-conscious that I started changing my hairstyles to hide the hair loss.”

Kenneth also emphasizes how culturally connected she felt to her hair and how styling it is connected to her Nigerian identity. “We have elaborate hairstyles. Your grandma or mom braids your hair. Even at school, we have a hairstyle every week and hairstyle is one of the things to do before the holiday season. Saturdays are hair-washing days, and there’s a separate shea butter treatment day,” says Kenneth. “It’s a whole thing. It’s ingrained in the culture.”

Hair texture plays a crucial role in the transplant process, especially for black women. So when she did her research, Kenneth looked specifically for a clinic that shared before and after photos of black patients, especially black women. And that’s how he found Estenov.

“The texture of our hair is different. Men just want their hair back, but for us women we want our hairstyles back,” says Kenneth. “I still have my locks because I plan to reattach them once my hair grows back.’

Denise Dykes, a 56-year-old real estate agent from Canada, also sought hair and eyebrow transplants in Turkey. As of 2017, she had been struggling with hair loss linked to low progesterone levels since menopause and was desperate for a solution. “When I looked in the mirror, it was eating at me. I was retreating like a man,” Dykes recounts, describing how uncomfortable she felt in front of the camera while updating her professional photos. “I didn’t want to work with what I had. I wanted to take back what I had.”

After researching her options, she found that a hair transplant in Turkey was significantly more affordable than in Canada or the US — even with travel expenses.

At first he thought stem cell therapieswhich include the existence of stem cells injected into the scalp to facilitate new hair growth. But the price he received was a prohibitive $6,000 to $7,000 per shot, with six sessions.

Eventually, Dykes made the trip to Turkey, with her 24-year-old daughter for support. “The package included the procedure, airport pick-up, hotel stay, aftercare, a three-month supply of hair vitamins and clinical-grade shampoo,” she says. “It cost me $3,500, compared to almost $10,000 in the US, where you might also get a separate bill for the anesthesia.” An added bonus? Two weeks vacation with her daughter.

Turkey’s appeal as a medical tourism destination is multifaceted. As Estenove co-founder Murat Alsaç says, “It’s simple: Turkey offers cost-effectiveness, high-level medical expertise and world-class hospital infrastructure.” The experience Alsaç describes may derive, at least in part, from millions of patients who have reportedly visited the country for hair procedures only in the last five years. Today, Turkey is something of a Silicon Valley for hair transplants.

Perhaps women are just now starting to embrace this reality because hair loss still carries so much stigma for them. Even when women travel to Turkey and have great success, they may choose to remain silent about their procedures.

As a result of this lingering shamethere aren’t nearly enough before and after photos for women. That’s why Dykes decided to share her journey online so openly, posting about the entire process on social media, along with progress photos.

“So many people keep it down, like when a woman has a belly after a baby. So when a woman wants it [get cosmetic surgery] they don’t know where to go,” Dykes says. “I had no one to go to. I don’t want this to happen to other women.”

Both Dykes and Kenneth highlight the transformative effect of their hair transplants, not only on their appearance but also on their confidence and self-esteem. Kenneth advises women experiencing hair loss to seriously consider the procedure. “Do it. If you don’t, you’ll forever have to hide your hair, wear wigs, hair extensions, but still feel self-conscious about it,” she says.

Dykes echoes that sentiment: “Women don’t think twice about breast implants or tummy tucks. Hair transplants should be the same.”

In a world where beauty standards often overlook the reality of female pattern hair loss, Kenneth and Dykes stand out as beacons of hope for those who silently battle the stigma surrounding the issue. For them, the choice of hair transplant in Turkey was not only about restoring their hair. it was about challenging social norms and rekindling their sense of identity.