The mother who caused an uproar when she revealed she lasered her baby’s port-wine stain birthmark has shared photos of her child after the treatment.
33-year-old Brooke Atkins is a stay-at-home mom from Gold Coast, Australia, who gave birth to a baby boy named Kingsley earlier this year.
Soon after the child’s birth, Brooke and her partner, Kewene Wallace, noticed a giant port wine mark covering nearly half of their child’s face.
“The thing with port wine stains is that they are progressive, meaning they will change and darken over time,” the mom-of-two said.
“They can develop a ‘cobblestone’ appearance, with raised bumps, ridges and the risk of vascular blebs, where they dangerously bleed.
“Once a port wine stain gets to this stage, it is often very difficult to treat and laser barely has any affect, as the skin is already far too damaged.”
And so, the new parents made the inevitable decision to have Kingsley’s birthmark treated with laser even though the stain could not be removed completely.
“The only way to treat a port wine stain is through laser treatments and the most effective laser for a it is called a Pulsed Dye Laser,” the mom added.
“When he was first born, we were referred to the Queensland Children’s Hospital dermatology and vascular department, where they organize the first treatment and explain in further details why laser would be important.
“The purpose of the laser treatments are not to ‘remove’ the birthmark but instead keep the skin healthy, to prevent any further damage to the area.”
At the time of their decision, Kewene and Brooke faced a severe online backlash from critics who called them monsters and accused them of harming their child for the sake of looks.
“That birthmark is barely visible, what you’re doing to him is horrible, it’s more for you than him,” someone wrote.
“Brainwashed mother making her kid insecure the second he gets out the womb,” another fumed.
Many people, however, also rushed to the parents’ defense and said they were merely protecting their baby both from the mark and from the bullying that he could face in the future.
While the negative feedback admittingly left the mother in tears, she now knows she made the right decision. She also shared new photos of her adorable son showing the tot’s brand new look and his birthmark barely visible.
“Honestly, when I first started reading the negative comments, I sat there for a good half an hour and cried to myself,” Brooke says. “I had a whole heap of mum guilt and it made me question my decision, even though I knew I was doing the right thing, the cruel words still played in my head.”
She continued: “Thankfully for every negative comment, there were 100 positive, so it helped a lot! I just wish these people had known about the health issues connected to these types of birthmarks before writing these things, that this wasn’t for cosmetic reasons and that as parents, this was the hardest decision we have had to make.
“That the last six months have been extremely hard on us and reading these comments, actually do hurt – this is the last thing we need, judgement from those who have no understanding around my son’s conditions.”
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