Brooke Atkins, 33, gave birth to her second child — a baby boy named Kingsley — in January and noticed half his face was covered by a birthmark.
At first, it looked like a harmless birthmark but the doctors told Kingsley’s parents, Brooke and Kewene, otherwise. Before it worsens, Kingsley’s birthmark, known as a port wine stain, needs to be lasered.
Port wine stains look pink at birth but become a dark maroon color when the babies grow older.
The conditions can cause seizures and other disabilities while glaucoma can cause blindness. Since the tot was diagnosed with both, the parents made the decision to get laser treatment at the end of May.
Brooke and Kewene decided to treat Kingsley’s port wine stain with laser treatment.
“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,” Brooke explained.
It turns out that port wine stains can spread and evolve into lump-like appearances if left untreated, which might result in ongoing bullying.
Additionally, when the skin thickens, it can bleed easily. Additionally, Kingsley might later be given the diagnoses of epilepsy, developmental delays, and learning difficulties because he already had Sturge-Weber syndrome.
Since Kingsley was still a baby, the doctors said it’s best to start laser treatment now, when it’s much easier to treat. The longer the person has had port wine stains, the harder it’ll be to treat it.
Kingsley’s birthmark required multiple treatments because it was already a little further advanced. After then, skin care procedures are only required once a year.
Unfortunately, in this social media world, people feel entitled to give their opinion even when they haven’t done the research.
Brooke was attacked by internet trolls when she posted about her son’s laser treatment on her TikTok account.
“Brainwashed mother making her kid insecure the second he gets out the womb,” one comment said.
Several people bashed her even more and made her feel like she was a bad mom for choosing to have her son treated.
The mom, who also shares 2-year-old daughter Amarni with her partner Kewene Wallace, admits the negative comments made her question her decision.
“Honestly, when I first started reading the negative comments, I sat there for a good half an hour and cried to myself,” she said.
“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.”
However, there have been a lot of supportive comments on the mother’s videos, and more than 32,700 people have been following young Kingsley’s journey on social media.
“You’re the mom and you know what is the best for him,” one user assured her.
“I would have done the same thing and wished I had a strong mum like you to help educate,” one of them added.
“I never realized it could affect health!? Thank you for the video he is adorable!” another user wrote.
This positive support was what kept her going and pushed her to spread awareness of port wine stain birthmarks and the importance of treatments.
She added: “Although I constantly worry about my son’s future and what it will be like, he continues to hit all his milestones.
“This journey for our family has just started and there is a long road ahead but we will push through!
“Over 20 hospital appointments, two different hospitals, over 10 different specialists and doctors, five different medical departments, three MRI’s, one ultrasound, two hearing tests, two operations, two laser treatments and three diagnoses, all in six months – yet he is the happiest, most loving and sweetest boy you will ever meet!”
