Some parents will do anything for their kids — even get huge tattoos on their legs. Tanya and Adam Phillips have a daughter who has a large bright red birthmark (possibly a hemangioma or a “port wine stain” ) covering half her body. To help her grow up feeling less self-conscious of her unique marks, so the Phillips got matching ones tattooed on their own legs.
The mom of four and her husband don’t want 18-month-old Honey-Rae to ever feel ashamed of her birthmark. “Most people might think it’s very extreme but to us it was the natural thing to do to ensure our daughter never felt different or alone in the world,” Tanya told the UK’s Mirror Online. She described how sad she felt when she first saw the birth mark, fearing that her daughter would face scrutiny and be teased later in life for being different. (According to WebMD, large birthmarks of this kind can sometimes disappear during childhood.)
The couple had talked about getting matching tattoos for a while, but after Tanya noticed an older couple staring and whispering at her daughter in the grocery story, she made up her mind that they would definitely go forward with the birthmark tats. She said it was painful, but totally worth every second of discomfort.
“When the swelling went down, I showed Honey-Rae, and she gently touched it and smiled as she said ‘Match,’ pointing to her own leg,” Tanya said. If that’s not unconditional, parental love, I’m not sure what is.
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