Parents will do anything for their children, especially to protect them. These parents were no different. Keep reading to learn more about what these parents did for their daughter.
One of the 20,000
When baby Vienna Brookshaw entered the world in April 2021, her mom, Celine Casey, was overjoyed — until she spotted something unexpected.
Born in the U.K., Vienna had a prominent dark mark between her eyebrows. Celine’s heart sank. Had something gone wrong during pregnancy?
Thankfully, doctors reassured her the birthmark was harmless. But Celine couldn’t help but worry how it might affect her daughter emotionally as she grew up.
The rare mark was diagnosed as congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN) — a condition that affects only about 20,000 babies. It’s caused by a cluster of pigment cells that form before birth and typically grow as the child gets older.
Although not dangerous, the placement of the birthmark meant Vienna would face curious stares, awkward questions, and possibly unkind comments — especially from strangers who don’t think before they speak.
That’s when her parents made a life-changing decision.
Vienna’s condition
The condition is rare and there was no way for anyone to tell how much the birthmark would grow as the little girl grew. Her mother was sure that she did not want her daughter to deal with that as she grew up.
Casey immediately asked doctors what could be done for her daughter’s birthmark. She said that she felt that if she did not get her daughter’s birthmark removed, she might resent her parents in the future.
The concerned mother said, “We love seeing her grow on her journey, and we can’t wait for the day that she does grow up and can speak for herself so we can hear her opinion, we’d love her no matter what, even if we did keep the birthmark.”
The reason for her ambition was that when their daughter was an infant, Casey, and her partner had already noticed that people were staring at her. She also saw that her baby was being treated differently than other babies and, hence, was even more motivated to get the birthmark removed.
The surgery was denied by the NHS and the mother had to find alternate sources for help. So, she began a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for having the surgery done privately.
Denied surgery
The NHS denied the surgery as they usually deny any surgeries that are not essential for a person’s physical health. They considered the surgery cosmetic not crucial.
In just 24 hours, the parents raised $52,000 for the surgery. Unfortunately, this amount was not enough as hospital costs had skyrocketed after the COVID-19 pandemic and the young parents needed $27,000 for the surgery.
They turned to GoFundMe again to help with the added costs for their daughter’s birthmark removal surgery.
“Everybody has things they’re insecure about on their body, and the doctor said he’d respect that, but with Vienna, it wasn’t going to affect her mental health right now. But we didn’t see it as that, she’s going to start school when she’s three, and younger kids are so smart, they point out stuff like that,” the worried mother reasoned.
Now, the little girl is three years old, and her birthmark has been entirely removed, the only evidence of it being a tiny scar on her forehead. Her mother Casey will usually share updated on her daughter’s healing process and comment on how ‘gorgeous’ her baby girl is.
Even after the birthmark had been removed, the couple traveled to London so the surgeon could see how well the scar had healed and whether Brookshaw would need any more surgeries or procedures after the three surgeries she had already had. But for now, she is a healthy three-year-old and needs no further attention!
We are sending all our best wishes to little Brookshaw. We hope the baby girl always remains in the best of health! Share this with others so they can know about her story, too!