Woman with large birthmark shoots down TV show 'Too Ugly for Love?'
photo: Imgur
Lexxie Harford is like a lot of 23-year-olds. She likes to make sandwiches, colours her hair and takes a lot of selfies. Oh right, and she also happens to have a large birthmark covering half of her face.
Harford has heterochromia, a condition that affects the colouration of both her skin and eye – one is blue while the other is green. The condition is caused by an excess of pigment, which can be inherited or is often a result of genetic disease or injury. But for Harford, it’s just part of her face.
In the last two years, Harford has been contacted by two British reality TV shows – “The Undateables” and “Too Ugly For Love?”
Instead of getting upset, she decided to speak out.
Using Imgur, she posted a series of selfies showing off her birthmark. She then waited for the comments to roll in, responding to commenters – even the ignorant ones.
“Sometimes I’m asked if it’s a bruise. Doesn’t offend me,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I’ve gotten the odd asshole who asked who hit me, but it’s been rare.“
photo: Imgur
Harford claims she didn’t even realize she was different until age nine.
"Up until that day I never noticed it,” she told ABC News. “It was probably because of the ignorance of a child.”
While Harford does occasionally cover the birthmark up with makeup, she says she’s not ashamed of it. “I have blemishes and mild acne, which isn’t a birthmark, so I’d cover that birthmark or not,” she explained to one commenter.
So far the pictures have been viewed more than 100,000 times with nearly 800 comments. These have ranged from questions about what exactly is ‘wrong’ with her to others expressing their admiration of her bravery. Others have come forward to thank her for making them aware of the condition.
“Gal I went to school with had one like yours. I regret often how I treated her. I don’t know her now, though i hope she is well and happy,” one commenter wrote.
“This post made me happy,” Harford wrote in response. “Like, in the way of you admitting that. I hope she’s happy too, but also proud of you.”
While Harford hasn’t forgotten the cruelty that led her speaking out, she’s happy to be able to bring more awareness around heterochromia.
“The next time they see someone with a birthmark they won’t forget. They’ll know what it is and they won’t get freaked out,” she writes.
