These Parents Found An Extreme But Sweet Way To Show Their Daughter Her Birthmark Is Nothing To Be Ashamed Of
Plenty of parents have tattoos, and plenty of people have birthmarks, but one set of parents in the U.K. just went so far as to get full-leg tattoos of their daughter’s birthmark so she wouldn’t grow up thinking it was something to be ashamed of.
According to The Mirror, Tanya and Adam Philllips‘ youngest daughter, Honey-Rae, is a beautiful little 18-month-old girl with a pink birthmark that covers almost half of her body.
“It is bright red and it covers almost half of the right side of her body,” Tanya Phillips said. “It stretches from her toes to her lower back. It hasn’t faded with time. In fact some days, it looks darker than others.”
Tanya is a darling little cupcake, but her parents were concerned about hwo she would feel about the tattoo as she grows up. Other kids can be jerks, of course, and the Phillips had already witnessed adults whispering behind their hands about the little girl when she wore shorts outside in the summer. (For the record, any adults who would say nasty things about a toddler’s birthmark deserve a big chorus of boos.)
In order to help Honey-Rae grow up thinking of her pink marks as normal things that aren’t weird or deserving of nasty comments, her parents decided to get tattoos of her birthmark on their own legs so she would grow up feeling like part of a set, and not an outsider.
“We had talked about having duplicate tattoos done for a little while but that day my mind was made up,” Tanya Phillips said. “We knew we had to do something to ensure Honey-Rae grew up knowing she was very much loved. … Some people will says it odd and think what we’ve done is quite extreme, but in our eyes all we have done is ensure Honey-Rae never feels different. Mummy and Daddy now have the same permanent markings as she does.”
The tattoos, which can be seen over at The Mirror, are surprisingly well crafted tattoos, too. Adam Phillips says his took about two and a half hours and cost $125, and it’s indistinguishable from a naturally occurring birthmark.
It is a bit weird to get a tattoo of a birthmark like this, but it does make a certain amount of sense. Tanya says Honey-Rae already recognizes their tattoos as duplicates of her birthmark, and the similarity makes her giggle. It’s weird, but sweet, and it does seem like a good way to remind her that whatever anybody else might say, her birthmark isn’t all that bad. After all, her parents both voluntarily added it to their bodies.
Photo: Shutterstock
