This is the gorgeous story of a couple of parents who didn’t want their daughter to feel different.
18-month-old Honey-Rae Phillips was born with bright red birthmarks covering half of her entire right hand side. The mother of the little girl, Tanya Phillips explained to The Mirror, that there were a few complications when little Honey-Rae was first born.
She’s struggled to breathe when she was first born and was rushed to the special care unit. When I went to see her she was just lying in a little incubator and that’s when I saw it. It broke my heart.
I just sobbed and sobbed knowing my baby was going to permanently marked for the rest of her life.
Initially to avoid any stares and comments, Tanya used to cover her daughters legs. From the moment she was born she wanted her daughter to know how amazing she is and that her birth marks are something to be proud of and not to be embarrassed about.
Then one day last summer Tanya decided to dress Honey-Rae in shorts and sandals for a shopping trip. Tragically she overheard an elderly couple making comments under their breath while staring at the little girl.
I was distraught. It was first time I had taken her out without covering her up and it confirmed all my worries and fears. People are cruel without even realising.
“And I knew if adults could be that insensitive, then kids at school would also be unintentionally mean
It was at that point that Tanya and her husband Adam needed to show her daughter she was not different and there was nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.
They decided they would get their own legs tattooed with the same birth marks as their little princess.
Initially Adam got the tattoo from his wife as a Christmas present. He then bought Tanya hers for her 40th birthday.
It was incredibly painful, especially as I had a flower to cover some old star tattoos, but it was worth every second of the pain.
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
The tattoo’s were clearly very painful and expensive but both Tanya and Adam agree it is well worth the price of her daughter never feeling different again.
