I lasered my baby’s face – I was called a ‘monster’ by trolls, but I don’t care… I’d do it again
WHEN Brooke Atkins was pregnant with her second child, she never could have imagined that in a few months time she’d be faced with the decision of lasering his face.
The decision was not one she took lightly but saw her accused of being a “child abuser” and "monster" by trolls on social media.
The 34-year-old gave birth to little Kingsley in January 2022 and instantly noticed he had a maroon birthmark covering the right side of his face.
Medically known as port-wine stain birthmarks, they are linked to conditions like glaucoma, which can cause blindness, and Sturge-Weber syndrome, an abnormality of the brain that causes epileptic seizures and stunts development.
Since Kingsley was diagnosed with both, Brooke and her partner Kewene, 27, made the difficult decision to get laser treatment on the tot’s face when he was just five-months-old.
“People didn’t understand why we were lasering him at such a young age,” she tells Fabulous. “We received a lot of hate.
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“Nobody had really heard of these types of birthmarks and a lot of people assumed they would just fade over time, like others.”
Brooke, from the Gold Coast, Aus, decided to share Kingsley's story on social media to raise awareness but was savagely hounded and mum-shamed by trolls.
“We started receiving comments online calling us child abusers,” she says. “That we need to let him decide when he is older, that our child would hate us when he gets older.
“That we were sick in the head because it was purely for cosmetic reasons, that we were faking it, that he looked awful with or without it, that we were exploiting him.
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“I was a monster, I was hungry for fame, we were horrible parents.”
Brooke used to respond to trolls out of anger but has now learnt to block them out, confident knowing laser therapy was the right choice for little Kingsley.
She urged people to remember that not all birthmarks are “just a birthmark” and can pose serious threats to a baby’s development.
Port-wine stain birthmarks often darken, thicken and develop vascular nodules, which are susceptible to spontaneous bleeding or haemorrhage.
The increased tissue mass under the soft tissue of the birthmark can also lead to further disfigurement of the facial features and leave large growths on the face.
As Kingsley’s birthmark was on his face, he was at a higher risk of these complications.
The tot has to have close ongoing maintenance due to his conditions, including two laser sessions a year, as there's no cure.
He was diagnosed with glaucoma and Sturge-Weber Syndrome soon after birth and started experiencing seizures from epilepsy in October last year.
Kingsley has been rushed to A&E ten times already this year due to seizures, alongside four laser treatments and four operations on his eyes for glaucoma.
At first, Kingsley had to get laser treatments every month to get the best clearance before his skin starts getting exposed to the sun and ageing.
“We were extremely nervous for his first laser treatment,” Brooke recalls. “Even though it was only two minutes worth of laser, my heart broke for my darling boy.
“Although we knew it was the right thing to do, it still didn’t make it easier.”
Brooke describes Kingsley as “the happiest, most loving and sweetest boy you will ever meet” despite the pain he has endured.
Now one-year-old, the tot’s birthmark has been mostly cleared by the laser treatments but he is still suffering from its complications - something he will have to live with for his whole life.
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“I want to help normalise birthmarks and spread as much awareness as I can,” Brooke says. “So uneducated people can stop the judgement and also make others aware of what families like mine are going through.
“It’s not ‘just’ a birthmark.”
