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."
Follow Ashley:
https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleycharmfi...
/ ashleycharmfive
Videographer: Mikon Haaksman
Producers: Adam Fleet
Editors: Dalene Low, Helen McKee
Follow Ashley:
https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleycharmfi...
/ ashleycharmfive
Videographer: Mikon Haaksman
Producers: Adam Fleet
Editors: Dalene Low, Helen McKee
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NewsTranscript
00:00I actually didn't know what albinism was until my son was born.
00:04I felt like they gave me the wrong baby.
00:07To me, she was Caucasian.
00:10One day, I was just looking at him, and he was just looking at me, and he just smiled.
00:16It just melted my heart.
00:17When I gave birth again, I seen a head full of blonde hair.
00:23Instantly, I'm like, KD is not alone.
00:26It was a combination of reactions.
00:28They're whitewashed.
00:29That's not your daughter.
00:33Oh, hold on one second.
00:35You want to do the ACT?
00:37Yeah.
00:38But I'm scared I might crack it.
00:40I'm bad at making gags.
00:43There, oh my, you did it.
00:44I did it.
00:46Yep, you did it.
00:47My name is Ashley, and I'm 34 years old.
00:50My oldest is Stanley, but we all know him as Boom, and he is 16.
00:57My second son, KD, he is 13.
00:59I'm taking a seat.
01:02And then we have Munchie, and she is 11.
01:05And then we have TT, who is 10.
01:08And then we have Chase, which he goes by CO.
01:11He is 9.
01:13Since I have a lot of kids, I try to make them a big breakfast, because I know that
01:19they won't get full real quickly.
01:21Do you ever help in the kitchen?
01:24Sometimes, if I want to cook in the kitchen, I would ask my mom, but either my granddad
01:29or my big brother has to watch me.
01:31My eyesight's bad, so really, they don't really trust me in the kitchen that much.
01:35So I have to have somebody supervise me.
01:37I actually didn't even know what albinism was until my son was born.
01:42I didn't realize that something was wrong until I was breastfeeding him, and he had
01:47on his little hat, and I thought he had like a lint stuck to his hair.
01:53And when I went to go pull it, it was actually attached.
01:57And so when I took the hat off, I damn nearly just froze.
02:03I was like, oh my gosh, he has a lot of blonde hair.
02:07I started freaking out.
02:09Like I went in a total eruption of emotions, because he should have came out my color,
02:15and he did not come out my color.
02:18And I felt like somehow, maybe the nurses probably swapped the babies.
02:22Like something was definitely wrong, because I totally believed that that was not my child.
02:30It literally took like two days before a doctor actually came in my room and told me that
02:36my son had oculocutaneous albinisms.
02:40And I said, well, what is that?
02:43They just said where a child lacks pigment, and they have no color.
02:48I mean, to me, he looked nothing like me.
02:51And to me, he was Caucasian.
02:55That's what I stood on.
02:58That's what I felt.
02:59So it was very hard trying to have a bond, and I was already being judged before he had
03:07even come home.
03:08Did you sleep with a white man?
03:11You had to have, because you and dad are the same complexion.
03:15So how did you create this type of child?
03:18I felt like they gave me the wrong baby.
03:21Like there was nothing nobody could honestly tell me for me to believe that it was my baby.
03:29Even though I birthed a child, but at the end of the day, I just couldn't accept that.
03:36One day that KD was crying, I was just looking at him, and he was just looking at me.
03:44And I was just talking to him, and he just smiled.
03:48And it was like, I just finally embraced it.
03:52Like it was the way he smiled, it just melted my heart so much.
03:59And I just, I fell in love with him.
04:03I wouldn't let him go.
04:04I wouldn't put him down.
04:06Here is a picture of KD.
04:08This is when he was in his bassinet.
04:10You can see how precious he was.
04:13When we talked to the doctors, I had specifically asked, could this happen again?
04:18And they were telling me it was very rare.
04:20So when I gave birth again, dad said, she's albino.
04:26I said, you're lying.
04:28Soon as they washed her up, I seen a head full of blonde hair.
04:33My reaction was very different.
04:37Here's a throwback little picture of TT, looking cute.
04:41Because it was like instantly, I'm like, KD is not alone.
04:47Here goes TT's newborn picture.
04:49They do look like they could be twins, a boy and a girl.
04:53There you have it, there's TT.
04:55Hey, K.
05:02How's everyone doing?
05:06The whole family here.
05:08It's like a whole squad.
05:10TT, TT.
05:11Can you tell us about your decision to start making TikTok videos and sharing your family's
05:16story online?
05:17Well, I've always told the kids, I said, you know, if we do something very creative, I
05:22feel like we will go viral.
05:24And it took us two years.
05:26November 4th, I did a hair tutorial on Titi.
05:30And within two days, we had six million views.
05:34Yay!
05:35Go, Titi!
05:36Go, Titi!
05:37Go, Titi!
05:38Yay!
05:40It was a combination of reactions.
05:43A lot of positive and a lot of negative.
05:46People being downright racist.
05:49They're whitewashed.
05:51That's not your daughter.
05:53You're just using your adopted daughter for clout.
05:57People are not being educated enough
05:59and looking at our content.
06:00Because there's a lot of people saying they're not black,
06:03that you were adopted.
06:04That's not their mom.
06:06It was very painful, the fact that people
06:09don't think that they're mine.
06:10But what's crazy is, my daughter looks just like me.
06:14So I don't know why people feel like she's not my child.
06:19But the only reason that I can think of
06:21is because of her skin color.
06:24On Facebook, I had got a message request.
06:28Somebody had Titi's photo with the Ku Klux Klan.
06:32Oh, OK.
06:33With a rope.
06:34With a rope.
06:35And I don't know if the rope was around her neck.
06:37I really can't remember.
06:38But the rope was there.
06:41There's some hateful people out there.
06:44Some small-minded people just react hatefully.
06:50And there's not really much you can
06:51do that when you open yourself up
06:54on the informational highway.
06:56There's no way that you can avoid it.
06:58I don't feed into it.
06:59Because when you respond to the negativity,
07:03then they're going to come back with more negativity.
07:06Because they have nothing else better to do.
07:08So I'm not going to even give them that power.
07:11You did it, girl.
07:12Give me a hug.
07:13You did it.
07:14See, I'm fearless.
07:15I'm fearless.
07:17We're going.
07:19Let's go.
07:20Woo!
07:22So are you ever worried about, worried or concerned
07:25for Katie and Titi being affected
07:26by these judgments of hate?
07:29Honestly, no.
07:30Because they're built just like me.
07:33They let it roll off their shoulders.
07:35And they really don't care what people think.
07:40Affirmations are very important to me.
07:42And I give it to my kids every day.
07:46You're handsome.
07:47You're beautiful.
07:48You're smart.
07:49You're intelligent.
07:53Let's start educating people and bringing more awareness
07:58instead of the stares, the comments.
08:04As you look at Titi and Katie, they're themselves.
08:08They're no different than any other child.
08:10I'm not worried about their future.
08:12I see their futures being definitely bright.
08:14They're beautiful kids.
08:16And they could do anything that they put their mind to.
08:20I let my kids be kids.
08:22And I support them every step of the way.