‘My daughter was trolled because of her birthmark, so we had it removed’
“If we did leave her to grow with a birthmark, would she resent both parents? Would she be angry at us?”
A relieved mother has shared the heartwarming moment her baby girl had a birthmark removed from her forehead.
Celine Casey has told the incredible journey her two-year-old daughter, Vienna Shaw, has been on after being born with a congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN) on her forehead.
The 27-year-old from York, UK, said she searched for a doctor to remove the mark so her daughter could “grow up without feeling different”.
“We love seeing her grow on her journey and we can’t wait for the day that she does grow up and can speak for herself so we can hear her opinion, we’d love her no matter what, even if we did keep the birthmark,” she said.
Family raises more than $50,000 for surgery
Celine said she blamed herself when Vienna was born after not knowing what the birthmark was.
Her and her husband revealed they loved her the way she was, but wanted to seek medical help and get the mark removed to avoid future mental-health problems for their daughter.
Celine said she was worried about protecting the mark from the sun and the possibility of it continuing to get bigger.
CMN is a rarity that appears in one in 20,000 babies. It leaves people with a birthmark that looks different or larger than other birthmarks and can appear anywhere.
Vienna has been left with a pigment on her forehead, making the mark stand out and leaving her mom desperate to help her baby live a normal life.
The family said they had to raise the money privately after the NHS declined their request to remove the birthmark..
They raised $52,000 in 24 hours after setting up a fundraiser for the operation needed for the removal.
“It would’ve impacted her mental health at a young age”
However, hospital costs rose after Covid and the family were forced to raise another $27,000.
“Everybody has things they’re insecure about on their body and the doctor said he’d respect that but with Vienna, it wasn’t going to affect her mental health right now,” Celine said.
“But we didn’t see it as that, she’s going to start school when she’s three and younger kids are so smart, they point out stuff like that.
“Vienna having a massive birthmark on her face would’ve impacted her mental health a lot starting at a young age.
“The day the doctor said he wouldn’t remove it is when we knew we definitely were going to.
“When she was born my reaction when she was put on my chest was more worry – was she okay? Had I hurt her? Had I done something wrong?
“There were so many things going around in my head and I was so scared, but no one knew what it was.
“It was just like a worry bubble because we just wanted answers but even the midwives said they’d never seen this before.
“We got a lot of trolls”
Celine said the family went through stages where they’d cover Vienna’s face to hide the birthmark.
“We went out daily with her and we got a few stares,” she said.
“My partner couldn’t come to the hospital for the first surgery because of Covid which wasn’t nice for me.
“We get a lot of positive comments and a lot of love, but we get a lot of trolls, every day it’s just bullying.
“If we did leave her to grow with a birthmark, would she resent both parents? Would she be angry at us?
“Another reason we did it is because she’s so young – she won’t have this memory which is nice in a way.
“No one in this world is perfect and we don’t want people to hide away from how they were born – we embraced Vienna when she was born, and we’ll carry on with it.”
The NHS said they were not able to comment on specific cases but, NHS policy on the removal of birthmarks states: “To be eligible for birthmark removal under the NHS, a birthmark can be removed on the NHS if it’s affecting a person’s health. If you want a birthmark removed for cosmetic reasons, you’ll have to pay to have it done privately”.