When Winry was born, it was evident that she wasn’t like the other babies.
A large mark appeared on one side of her face, which her parents initially misunderstood as a bruising. They rapidly discovered, however, that she had an uncommon blemish known as congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN).
Because her mom, Nicole Hall, had never seen this type of birthmark before, she recognized that many others wouldn’t be familiar with it either. Because of this, she also realized that Winry may experience bullying as she gets older.
Nicole has gone to social media to raise awareness (and to show off how lovely Winry is!) to help counteract this.
“This is the first time for a lot of people to see a birthmark like hers, which is one of the reasons I enjoy sharing,” Nicole added. “This is a good dialogue for parents to have with their children to show them that children have differences, or for parents who have a child who looks like Winry or has any kind of birthmark to see their child represented.”
Nicole gets quite a lot of questions when it comes to CMN, including the potential health risks. Winry has a small higher risk of having melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Nicole takes additional care of her daughter’s skin as a result, as well as taking her to see a dermatologist on a regular basis.
People commonly inquire about the possibility of having the birthmark erased. While it may be feasible in the future, Nicole does an excellent job of explaining why they’re waiting for Winry to reach the age of consent.
As important as it is for them to stay on top of Winry’s health, their bigger concern is how people will treat her and how that will affect her mental health. Thankfully, though, through the power of social media, Nicole has been able to connect with people all across the world who also have CMN.
“We’ve got to talk to several people from Brazil with birthmarks,” Hall said. “One of them has one that is almost identical to Winry and it’s been so fun to talk to her because she’s almost exactly my age.”
Having CMN makes Winry stand out from others physically, but Nicole believes that it’s her personality that really sets her apart. She may be just a little over a year old, but she already shows signs of being talkative and sassy. Most importantly, though, is the fact that she “just radiates joy.”
“I just hope she’s happy and doing whatever the hell she wants to be doing in twenty years,” Nicole remarked. “Because I just know she can achieve everything she sets her mind to, whether it’s going to college, becoming a mother, or traveling the world; whether it’s talking to people about her birthmark and helping to keep it alive, or whether it has nothing to do with it.” “All I want for her is for her to be doing whatever it is that makes her heart happy.”
