A little girl was born with a strange birthmark that affects only one out of every 20,000 babies. Her mother was worried that she had done something wrong and had no idea what this birthmark meant to her daughter. What she knew for sure was that she wanted to delete it.

Celine Casey, the mother of Vienna Brookshaw, shared the incredible story of a little girl. Casey and Brookshaw, who live in the United Kingdom, began their journey in April 2021, when Brookshaw was born.

When doctors placed Brookshaw on Casey’s chest, Casey immediately became worried that she had done something wrong during pregnancy, resulting in her daughter having a pronounced birthmark between her eyebrows.

Although the birthmark meant nothing to Brookshaw’s physical health, Casey knew how it could affect her mental health as she got older and ran into other children who would be curious about her condition.

Brookshaw was one of 20,000 babies born with congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN). This condition means that Brookshaw was born with a cluster of benign pigment cells between her eyebrows, which were supposed to grow as she matured.
This is a rare disease, and there was no way to tell how much Brookshaw’s birthmark might have increased with age. However, her mother knew that she did not want her daughter to face this.

Casey asked the doctors to remove the mole as soon as possible so that she would not grow up feeling different from all her peers. Casey was also worried that if she didn’t remove the mole, her daughter would resent her and her partner. Casey shared:

“We love seeing her grow up on her journey, and we can’t wait for the day when she really grows up and can speak for herself so that we can hear her opinion, we would love her no matter what, even if we had a birthmark left.”
Although Casey wanted to remove the mole only for the best of intentions, it was not easy for her. She even had to create a crowdfunding page so she could pay for her daughter’s surgery after the National Health Service turned her down.

When Brookshaw was still a baby, Casey and her partner noticed that people were already staring at her and treating her differently from other babies, so they hid her face and realized they had to remove the mole as soon as possible

However, they were refused when the parents sought help from the National Health Service. The National Health Service will reportedly not pay for operations that are not necessary for physical health. Brookshaw’s surgery may have been considered cosmetic rather than decisive.

After learning that they would not receive help from the National Health Service, Casey and her partner set up a GoFundMe page to raise the money needed for their daughter’s surgery. They explained her situation and set a donation goal.

In 24 hours, the parents raised $52,000. However, the couple suffered another blow when they learned that after the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital costs had skyrocketed and they needed another $27,000.
They used GoFundMe again and raised all the necessary money for surgery to remove Brookshaw’s birthmark. Casey shared:

“Everyone has things on their body that they are not sure about, and the doctor said he would respect that, but in the case of Vienna, it will not affect her mental health in any way right now. But we didn’t think so, she will go to school when she turns three, and the younger children are so smart that they pay attention to such things.”

Brookshaw is now two years old, and doctors have completely removed her birthmark, leaving her with only a tiny scar between her eyebrows. Casey often shares news about little Shaw’s scar and the healing process on her social media, and followers tell Casey how “gorgeous” her little girl is.

Casey shared that although her birthmark had been removed, they still needed to go to London so that Brookshaw’s surgeon could assess how well her scar was healing and whether she would need any more operations besides the three she had already undergone. Shaw is now living like an ordinary two-year-old.

While little Brookshaw’s birthmark affected only a small area of her body, another little girl’s birthmarks covered 80% of her body.