Nurses Didn't 'Swap' Two Of My Babies | MY EXTRAORDINARY FAMILY
ASHLEY, 34, from Texas, is a mum of five who was shocked to her core when two of her children were born with Albinism. Ashley said that before the birth of her second child KD, she didn't even know what Albinism was. She told Truly: "I felt like they gave me the wrong baby, to me he was caucasian." Ashley admits that at the very beginning it was difficult for her to bond with her son as she just didn't feel like KD was hers, but that all changed the minute he first smiled at her and she instantly fell in love with him. Doctors told Ashley that the chances of her having a second child with Albinism were incredibly slim, but a few years later Ashley gave birth to daughter TT who also had the condition. Ashley has taken her story to social media to raise awareness of Albinism, but has been met with some cruel online hate. "It was a combination of reactions, a lot of positive and negative... They're 'whitewashed', that's 'not your daughter', somebody had TT's photo with the Ku Klux Klan and a rope." Despite the hate they have received, Ashley is incredibly proud of having two children with Albinism and refuses to hide them from the public eye. She added: "They're beautiful kids and they can do anything they put their minds to. I want my kids to be kids and I support them every step of the way."
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00:00 I actually didn't even know what albinism was until my son was born.
00:04 I felt like they gave me the wrong baby.
00:07 To me, he was Caucasian.
00:11 One day, I was just looking at him and he just smiled.
00:14 It just melted my heart.
00:16 I fell in love with him.
00:18 When we talked to the doctors, I asked, "Could this happen again?"
00:21 And they were telling me it was very rare.
00:23 When I gave birth again, I seen a head full of blonde hair.
00:29 Instantly, I'm like, "KD is not alone."
00:33 It was a combination of reactions.
00:36 A lot of positive and a lot of negative.
00:39 They're whitewashed.
00:40 That's not your daughter.
00:42 Somebody had TT's photo with the Ku Klux Klan.
00:45 With a rope.
00:47 Oh, hold on one second.
00:53 You want to do the ACT?
00:54 Yeah.
00:56 But I'm scared I might crack it.
00:58 I'm bad at making gags.
01:00 There, oh my goodness.
01:02 I did it!
01:03 Yep, you did it.
01:04 My name is Ashley and I'm 34 years old.
01:07 My oldest is Stanley, but we all know him as Boom and he is 16.
01:14 My second son, KD, he is 13.
01:17 I'm taking a seat.
01:19 And then we have Munchie and she is 11.
01:23 And then we have TT, who is 10.
01:26 And then we have Chase, which he goes by CO.
01:29 He is 9.
01:30 Since I have a lot of kids, I try to make them a big breakfast
01:34 because I know they won't get full real quickly.
01:39 Do you ever help in the kitchen?
01:41 Sometimes if I want to cook in the kitchen,
01:44 I would ask my mom, but either my granddad or my big brother
01:47 has to watch me.
01:49 My eyesight's bad, so they don't really trust me
01:51 in the kitchen that much.
01:52 So I have to have somebody supervise me.
01:54 I actually didn't even know what albinism was
01:58 until my son was born.
01:59 I didn't realize that something was wrong
02:02 until I was breastfeeding him and he had on his little hat.
02:06 And I thought he had like a lint stuck to his hair.
02:10 And when I went to go pull it, it was actually attached.
02:14 And so when I took the hat off, I damn nearly just froze.
02:20 I was like, oh my gosh, he has a lot of blonde hair.
02:25 I started freaking out.
02:26 Like, I went in a total eruption of emotions
02:31 because he should have came out my color,
02:33 and he did not come out my color.
02:35 And I felt like somehow maybe the nurses probably
02:38 swapped the babies.
02:40 Like, something was definitely wrong
02:42 because I totally believed that that was not my child.
02:46 I'm going to change my fork very quickly.
02:48 It literally took like two days before a doctor actually
02:52 came in my room and told me that my son
02:55 had oculocutaneous albinism.
02:57 And I said, well, what is that?
03:00 And they just said, well, your child lacks pigment,
03:04 and they have no color.
03:06 I mean, to me, he looked nothing like me.
03:08 And to me, he was Caucasian.
03:12 That's what I stood on.
03:15 That's what I felt.
03:17 So it was very hard trying to have a bond.
03:20 And I was already being judged before he had even come home.
03:26 Did you sleep with a white man?
03:28 You had to have because you and dad are the same complexion.
03:32 So how did you create this type of child?
03:36 I felt like they gave me the wrong baby.
03:38 Like, there was nothing nobody could honestly
03:42 tell me for me to believe that it was my baby,
03:46 even though I birthed a child.
03:48 But at the end of the day, I just couldn't accept that.
03:54 One day that KD was crying, I was just looking at him,
03:59 and he was just looking at me.
04:01 And I was just talking to him, and he just smiled.
04:05 And it was like I just finally embraced it.
04:10 Like, it was the way he smiled, it just
04:13 melted my heart so much.
04:16 And I just--
04:17 I fell in love with him.
04:20 I wouldn't let him go.
04:21 I wouldn't put him down.
04:23 Here is a picture of KD.
04:26 This is when he was in his bassinet.
04:28 You can see how precious he was.
04:31 When we talked to the doctors, I had specifically
04:34 asked could this happen again.
04:35 And they were telling me it was very rare.
04:38 So when I gave birth again, dad said, she's albino.
04:44 And I said, you're lying.
04:46 Soon as they washed her up, I seen a head full of blonde hair.
04:51 But my reaction was very different.
04:55 Here's a throwback little picture of TT, looking cute.
04:59 Because it was like instantly, I'm like, KD is not alone.
05:04 Here goes TT's newborn picture.
05:07 They do look like they could be twins, a boy and a girl.
05:11 There you have it, there's TT.
05:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:16 [KNOCKING]
05:20 Hey, K--
05:21 [INAUDIBLE]
05:23 How's everyone doing?
05:25 Your whole family here.
05:26 Got the whole squad.
05:28 Here, TT.
05:29 Here, TT.
05:30 Can you tell us about your decision
05:31 to start making TikTok videos and sharing your family's story
05:34 on them?
05:35 Well, I've always told the kids, I said, you know,
05:37 if we do something very creative,
05:40 I feel like we will go viral.
05:42 And it took us two years.
05:44 November 4, I did a hair tutorial on TT.
05:48 And within two days, we had 6 million views.
05:52 Yeah!
05:53 [INAUDIBLE]
05:54 Yeah, TT!
05:55 Yeah, TT!
05:56 Yeah!
05:57 Yeah!
05:58 It was a combination of reactions, a lot of positive
06:02 and a lot of negative.
06:04 People being downright racist.
06:07 They're whitewashed.
06:09 That's not your daughter.
06:11 You're just using your adopted daughter for clout.
06:14 People are not being educated enough
06:16 and looking at her content.
06:18 Because there's a lot of people saying, you're not black.
06:21 That you were adopted.
06:22 That's not their mom.
06:24 It was very painful, the fact that people
06:26 don't think that they're mine.
06:28 But what's crazy is, my daughter looks just like me.
06:32 So I don't know why people feel like she's not my child.
06:37 But the only reason that I can think of
06:39 is because her skin color.
06:42 On Facebook, I had got a message request.
06:46 Somebody had TT's photo with the Ku Klux Klan.
06:50 Oh, OK.
06:51 With a rope.
06:52 With a rope.
06:53 And I don't know if the rope was around her neck.
06:55 I really can't remember.
06:56 But the rope was there.
06:59 There's some hateful people out there.
07:02 Some small-minded people just react hatefully.
07:07 Yeah.
07:08 And there's not really much you can do that when you open
07:11 yourself up on the informational highway.
07:14 There's no way that you can avoid it.
07:16 I don't feed into it.
07:18 Because when you respond to the negativity,
07:21 then they're going to come back with more negativity.
07:24 Because they have nothing else better to do.
07:26 So I'm not going to even give them that power.
07:29 You did it.
07:30 Give me a hug.
07:31 You did it.
07:32 See, I'm fearless.
07:33 I'm fearless.
07:34 We're going.
07:35 Yay.
07:36 Let's go.
07:37 Woo.
07:38 [INAUDIBLE]
07:40 So are you ever worried about-- worried or concerned
07:42 for Katie and TT being affected by these judgments of hate?
07:47 Honestly, no.
07:48 Because they're built just like me.
07:50 They let it roll off their shoulders.
07:52 And they really don't care what people think.
07:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:57 Hey!
07:58 Affirmations are very important to me.
08:00 And I give it to my kids every day.
08:03 You're handsome.
08:04 You're beautiful.
08:05 You're smart.
08:06 You're intelligent.
08:07 Hey!
08:08 [INAUDIBLE]
08:10 Let's start educating people and bringing more awareness
08:15 instead of the stares, the comments.
08:21 As you look at TT and Katie, they're themselves.
08:25 They're no different than any other child.
08:27 I'm not worried about their future.
08:29 I see their futures being definitely bright.
08:32 They're beautiful kids.
08:33 And they could do anything that they put their mind to.
08:37 I let my kids be kids.
08:39 And I support them every step of the way.
08:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:53 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]