Woman born with facial birthmark slammed by trolls for choosing to lighten it
A woman who was born with a port wine stain birthmark on her face says trolls slam her for choosing to get laser surgery to lighten it.
Danielle Lipple, 28, has a vascular malformation – an abnormal development of blood vessels – across her lower face, neck and on the inside of her mouth and throat.
She has been getting laser surgery to lighten the birthmark since she was just aged one and believes she has had around 20 operations to date.
Danielle Lipple, 28, has a vascular malformation – an abnormal development of blood vessels – across her lower face, neck and on the inside of her mouth and throat.
She has been getting laser surgery to lighten the birthmark since she was just aged one and believes she has had around 20 operations to date.
Transcript
00:00 I've recorded this like three times and I can't stop shaking or tripping over my words.
00:03 I'm gonna do something scary. I'm going to go outside, walk down the street of my brand new neighborhood.
00:10 You can see my... I'm shaking.
00:12 I don't know why I'm so nervous.
00:15 Okay, I'm going to walk down my street in my brand new neighborhood where I've met none of the neighbors
00:23 to a mailbox that's on the street right next to a very busy ice cream place so that I can mail a wedding invite.
00:30 None of them know I have a birthmark and I am stressed.
00:36 Here's the thing. I'm hoping that they look at my outfit and not my face.
00:41 I show you guys my birthmark on the internet, but in person it is a completely different game.
00:48 Okay, let's go.
00:50 [no audio]
00:54 Wow, it's not super busy.
00:56 [no audio]
00:59 But it's by a very busy intersection.
01:02 Here it is.
01:04 So far, I don't see literally anyone.
01:08 Almost there.
01:11 [no audio]
01:16 Okay, that's not the end of it.
01:19 I'm literally not shaking at all anymore.
01:23 I think it's one of those things where you hype yourself up that it's going to be so terrible.
01:28 Normally, there's tons of kids outside.
01:32 My neighbors are outside. My neighbors across the street are outside.
01:35 But I literally don't see anyone.
01:37 Am I just lucky right now?
01:43 That was easy.
01:47 Now I feel silly.
01:51 Things have always been on my terms when it comes to showing people my birthmark.
01:54 I choose what video I want to post to TikTok.
01:58 I choose if I want to put makeup on before going and seeing someone or having someone over.
02:04 I choose where and when I want to show this part of myself to other people.
02:10 It's hard sometimes to control that.
02:13 I'm in my pajamas and freshly showered and the doorbell rings.
02:17 There's only so much you can control.
02:20 We're all self-conscious about something.
02:22 So when you are in control of the thing you are self-conscious about,
02:26 or if you're in control of any adjacent part, it feels better.
02:34 So I know I can put makeup on if I want.
02:37 I know I can put on a nice outfit to distract if I want.
02:41 I know I could have driven down there if I wanted to.
02:46 I can't control this.
02:48 But I can control everything else or most of everything else.
02:55 Do scary things.