Baby born with ‘Batman’ mask on her face.
A Hull dad and his American wife have revealed their shock after their daughter was born with a huge black birthmark which covers a third of her face.
Andrew, 34, and Lacey Jackson, 35, were shocked when Natalie arrived with the huge mask-like mark on part of her forehead, nose and around her left eye.
Mrs Jackson said: “Hearing her first cry was so special. Then the nurse lifted our girl up, after my C-section, and I saw the big black mark on the left-hand side of her face.
“She was so beautiful, but it looked like a bruise and I was worried in case it was something I had done to her during my pregnancy.
“Medics said it was just a birthmark, though, and she was breathing and healthy.”
As the mum cradled her newborn baby, who was born weighing 7lb 1oz, she began to fear what other people would think of the black mask-like mark as doctors warned her and her husband that the blotch would continue to grow.
“As I cuddled our gorgeous baby girl, feeling enamoured by her, I worried that people might just see her for her birthmark, and not the beautiful person I knew she would grow to be.
“In that moment, I decided we would love her so much and give her all the confidence in the world, to make sure she could see how beautiful she is – and how she can achieve anything she wants.”
Mr Jackson, who is originally from Hull before he moved to live with his wife in Sioux Falls in South Dakota, USA, works for a software firm, while Mrs Lace is an autopsy technician.
The couple have two older children called Elliott, who is seven, and four-year-old Devin. And after the youngsters met their baby sister for the first time, they came up with her superhero nickname.
“One of the boys asked, ‘What’s that on her face, mummy? What’s the black mark?’ I told him it was her superhero mask,” Mrs Jackson said. “I told them that, because of it, she could achieve anything.”
“People tell us how amazing her birthmark is and how gorgeous she is and we couldn’t agree more.
“We’ll always tell her it’s a part of who she is and who she is supposed to be. People will always know how special she is with her birthmark and how amazing she is inside and out.”
A week after Natalie was born, her parents took her to see an ophthalmologist – a specialist in diagnosing eye disease.
They wanted to make sure the birthmark was not causing any damage to her eyesight and also made trips to a dermatologist and a skin specialist with the youngster also undergoing an MRI scan.
Because of the abnormality, Natalie faces a number of health risks growing up but her parents have surprisingly decided to not get rid of their daughter’s black blotch.
Some strangers make odd glances towards the youngster in the street but Natalie’s parents don’t care.
They think “it’s good to be different” and want her to embrace her birthmark in the hope she will become a stronger person because of it.
Mrs Jackson said: “The dermatologist told us it was a birthmark, but it would grow as she did, meaning it would always cover a large proportion of her face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAvl0xTj8Sg
Having had a vivid red birth mark on the side of my face for all my 73 years: I would suggest to the parents of this lovely little girl that they need to realize that the cruelest comments will come from other children including her own brothers when they fight especially because the boys wont be allowed to retaliate when the children fight.Once she reaches maturity it won’t matter because she will cope with the insults by then.
So beautiful. With the love of her family I know she will be a very strong young girl/lady. x