Toddler with dark black mark on side of his face
This toddler has received mean comments for his birth mark (Picture: Media Drum World)

‘Whenever we step out, there are looks… not just at [my son], but at us as well as if this is something we did.’

These are the words of loving mother, 30-year-old Kanika Aneja, whose toddler Avyukt, is living with a large birth mark covering half his face.

Strangers ask her if she smoked during pregnancy and if that caused the black mark, while others have likened Avyukt’s birthmark to ‘dog skin’.

But, despite such a noticeable mark, former consultant Kanika and her husband Deepanshu Kalra, 31, didn’t realise at first.

Their son’s birth had been their main concern because he was born motionless, so they only saw the mark after Avyukt became conscious and was placed in Kanika’s arms.

Once the Californian couple realised their son had a large facial birthmark, they researched their newborn’s condition, to discover that he had Giant Hairy Congenital Melanocytic Nevus (CMN).

CMN are visible pigmented (melanocytic) proliferations in the skin that are present at birth. Small to medium CMN typically occur in more than one in a hundred births.

But for larger marks of more than 20cm on adults affect around one in 50,000 births.

Avyukt and his mum Kanika. California, USA: THIS ADORABLE little boy was born with a huge hairy black birthmark that leaves his stoic parents having to endure strangers referring to him as having, ?dog?s skin? and wrongly asking if they were to blame for smoking during pregnancy.?When past Senior Consultant Kanika Aneja (30) from California, USA gave birth to her son, Avyukt Kalra (16 months), she didn?t even notice his birthmark, which medics are still as a loss to explain the cause.?In the moment of birth, Kanika and her husband Data Engineer Deepanshu Kalra (31) ?s sole attention was to revive their seemingly unresponsive baby.?Medics in the labour room went silent as they grappled with how to understand what was happening to Avyukt.?But when their little warrior was revived and the thankful parents took their baby in their arms, his huge black birthmark was unmissable.?A sleepless Kanika and Deepanshu, spent days and nights researching their newborn?s condition and it was revealed that the baby was born with Giant Hairy Congenital Melanocytic Nevus(CMN).?A rare disease affecting 1 in 5,000,000 births,?Giant Congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) are visible pigmented (melanocytic) proliferations in the skin that are present at birth. ??CMN are benign, tumor-like malformations resulting from faulty development of pigment cell (melanocyte) precursors in the embryo, and composed of an abnormal mixture of skin elements.??For the new parents, having a happy living baby at the time of birth was more important than anything else but they do have to endure shocking ignorance from strangers who try to pin the blame on their parenting skills when they see their beautiful son?s appearance.??Whenever we step out, there are looks,? said Kanika.??These looks are not just at him, but at us as well as if this is something we did.??I understand that a lot of people are curious to know about his condition but some turn out to be very very mean.??While some people asked me if it was something I did during a Lunar Eclipse, others asked me if I burnt something when I was pregnant.??People have even gotten to the extent of asking us if we smoked during my pregnancy.??I have even been asked ridiculous questions about whether I scratched my forehead during my pregnancy.??To be honest, I don't know if I maybe felt itchy or have scratched my forehead.??What hurts the parents is when people fail to educate their kids about birthmarks and the children become rude to their innocent son.
Baby Avyukt and his mum Kanika (Picture: mediadrumimages/@avyukt_kalra)

CMN are benign, tumour-like malformations resulting from faulty development of pigment cell precursors in the embryo, and composed of an abnormal mixture of skin elements.

But what has left Kanika and Deepanshu so shocked, now their son is 16 months old, is the looks from people the shocking ignorance from strangers who try to pin the blame for his mark on them.

‘I understand that a lot of people are curious to know about his condition but some turn out to be very very mean,’ Kanika said.

‘While some people asked me if it was something I did during a Lunar Eclipse, others asked me if I burnt something when I was pregnant.

‘People have even gotten to the extent of asking us if we smoked during my pregnancy.’

Some questions she receives are even more ‘ridiculous’, with someone asking if she ‘scratched her forehead’ during pregnancy, resulting in her son’s mark.

‘People have gone to the extent of saying nasty things like his skin looks like dog’s skin,’ Kanika added.

What hurts Kanika and her partner even more is when people fail to educate their kids about birthmarks, and their children are rude to their son. Some have even told their parents they’re scared of Avykut.

Avyukt is now 16 months old. California, USA: THIS ADORABLE little boy was born with a huge hairy black birthmark that leaves his stoic parents having to endure strangers referring to him as having, ?dog?s skin? and wrongly asking if they were to blame for smoking during pregnancy.?When past Senior Consultant Kanika Aneja (30) from California, USA gave birth to her son, Avyukt Kalra (16 months), she didn?t even notice his birthmark, which medics are still as a loss to explain the cause.?In the moment of birth, Kanika and her husband Data Engineer Deepanshu Kalra (31) ?s sole attention was to revive their seemingly unresponsive baby.?Medics in the labour room went silent as they grappled with how to understand what was happening to Avyukt.?But when their little warrior was revived and the thankful parents took their baby in their arms, his huge black birthmark was unmissable.?A sleepless Kanika and Deepanshu, spent days and nights researching their newborn?s condition and it was revealed that the baby was born with Giant Hairy Congenital Melanocytic Nevus(CMN).?A rare disease affecting 1 in 5,000,000 births,?Giant Congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) are visible pigmented (melanocytic) proliferations in the skin that are present at birth. ??CMN are benign, tumor-like malformations resulting from faulty development of pigment cell (melanocyte) precursors in the embryo, and composed of an abnormal mixture of skin elements.??For the new parents, having a happy living baby at the time of birth was more important than anything else but they do have to endure shocking ignorance from strangers who try to pin the blame on their parenting skills when they see their beautiful son?s appearance.??Whenever we step out, there are looks,? said Kanika.??These looks are not just at him, but at us as well as if this is something we did.??I understand that a lot of people are curious to know about his condition but some turn out to be very very mean.??While some people asked me if it was something I did during a Lunar Eclipse, others asked me if I burnt something when I was pregnant.??People have even gotten to the extent of asking us if we smoked during my pregnancy.??I have even been asked ridiculous questions about whether I scratched my forehead during my pregnancy.??To be honest, I don't know if I maybe felt itchy or have scratched my forehead.??What hurts the parents is when people fail to educate their kids about birthmarks and the children become rude to their innocent son.
People have asked if Kanika smoked during pregnancy(Picture: mediadrumimages/@avyukt_kalra)

‘There are other kids also, who come and ask what it is and are completely okay,’ she said.

‘They don’t make Avyukt or us feel awkward or weird and I heartily appreciate the parenting of these kids, who have said that birthmarks are okay.

‘He is like any other baby, laughs, smiles, cries and plays.’

Kanika and Deepanshu have found respite on Facebook groups and other parenting groups for people with similar experiences, as well as parents who want to educate their children on birthmarks.

‘I am hopeful that these kids will be friends with my child when he goes to school,’ said Kanika.

‘I hope they will not make him feel out of place. We have to raise a confident and happy child, who doesn’t get affected much by bullying but it’s a tough process.

‘I just know, this young baby has his whole life ahead of him, and he didn’t ask for this mark.

‘He deserves a wonderful childhood like any other kid and should not be answering questions about what his parents have done to cause this birthmark.’

Baby Avyukt. California, USA: THIS ADORABLE little boy was born with a huge hairy black birthmark that leaves his stoic parents having to endure strangers referring to him as having, ?dog?s skin? and wrongly asking if they were to blame for smoking during pregnancy.?When past Senior Consultant Kanika Aneja (30) from California, USA gave birth to her son, Avyukt Kalra (16 months), she didn?t even notice his birthmark, which medics are still as a loss to explain the cause.?In the moment of birth, Kanika and her husband Data Engineer Deepanshu Kalra (31) ?s sole attention was to revive their seemingly unresponsive baby.?Medics in the labour room went silent as they grappled with how to understand what was happening to Avyukt.?But when their little warrior was revived and the thankful parents took their baby in their arms, his huge black birthmark was unmissable.?A sleepless Kanika and Deepanshu, spent days and nights researching their newborn?s condition and it was revealed that the baby was born with Giant Hairy Congenital Melanocytic Nevus(CMN).?A rare disease affecting 1 in 5,000,000 births,?Giant Congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) are visible pigmented (melanocytic) proliferations in the skin that are present at birth. ??CMN are benign, tumor-like malformations resulting from faulty development of pigment cell (melanocyte) precursors in the embryo, and composed of an abnormal mixture of skin elements.??For the new parents, having a happy living baby at the time of birth was more important than anything else but they do have to endure shocking ignorance from strangers who try to pin the blame on their parenting skills when they see their beautiful son?s appearance.??Whenever we step out, there are looks,? said Kanika.??These looks are not just at him, but at us as well as if this is something we did.??I understand that a lot of people are curious to know about his condition but some turn out to be very very mean.??While some people asked me if it was something I did during a Lunar Eclipse, others asked me if I burnt something when I was pregnant.??People have even gotten to the extent of asking us if we smoked during my pregnancy.??I have even been asked ridiculous questions about whether I scratched my forehead during my pregnancy.??To be honest, I don't know if I maybe felt itchy or have scratched my forehead.??What hurts the parents is when people fail to educate their kids about birthmarks and the children become rude to their innocent son.
Some children are scared of Avykut now(Picture: mediadrumimages/@avyukt_kalra)

Kanika and Deepanshu are considering medical intervention but are unsure whether to get Avyukt’s birthmark treated, due to various reasons like multiple surgeries, fear of scarring and the extremely high costs.

‘At the moment, we are just in the research phase to see if we want to remove Avyukt’s mark or not,’ the mum explained.

‘Removal will not be without scars and we would basically be replacing the black skin with the scars. We aren’t sure if we will opt for it or not.’

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The procedure to remove the mark would cost about £200,000, according to the couple, and Avyukt’s recovery would take a year, along with multiple reconstructive surgeries over the later years.

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