Baby Born With Striking White Hair And Mom Couldn’t Be Prouder
It is an understatement to say that motherhood often comes with a series of surprises. Many women discover a strong protective instinct they didn’t know they had, especially when their children are born with an unexpected condition. Patricia Williams is no stranger to the unpredictability of birth: the American mother of four has two boys who were born with brilliant white hair. She had no idea what was going on. Now she has written about her life as a mother of two albino children to educate others and help parents celebrate their children’s difference.
“Adjusting to the reactions of others and their comments is still a work in progress and will probably continue throughout our lives. My husband and I made a silly rule: If a stranger makes more than three comments about our son’s hair, we mention the fact that he has albinism,” she explains on Fashion Mama.
“We want to be a good example to our children of how to spread awareness of albinism in a positive light and not be ashamed to talk about it. We believe that a positive, open dialect is important to help them understand how to speak up and advocate for their needs as they navigate not only through school, but through life,” Patricia added about her sons Redd and Rockwell.
Albinism means a person has no or very little melanin pigment in their skin, hair and eyes. Albinism occurs in all racial and ethnic groups in the world. It is important for people with albinism to protect their skin and eyes from the sun and to have their eyes examined regularly.
Patricia wants to explain to parents who have a child who looks a little different, not just albinism, that they should support them as much as possible.
“When you have a child who looks a little different, has special needs, or sometimes just doesn’t fit in … it’s our duty to give them tools to resist the cruelty of the world,” she explained.
“We’ve already dealt with some kids who were unkind to Redd on a playground, and we know that will continue to happen throughout his childhood (and possibly into adulthood).
“We try our best to use those opportunities to educate them about albinism and why Redd’s eyes move back and forth and why his hair is so white,” he said.
“I’ve always said that the best defense we can give Redd is to teach him to be confident and to say the right things to him when he hears people making fun of him,” she concludes.
