I covered my birthmark for 34 years but now I don't want to hide from my kids

Video (click to play above) shows how a mum has learned to embrace her birthmark - as she wants to stop ‘hiding’ from her kids. Frith Zerfahs, 44, was born with a port wine stain birthmark and says she grew up without representation around her.

‘I don’t want to hide from my kids’

At aged eight she started having laser treatment to lighten the pigments in her birthmark, and at 21 she had laser treatment to try and ‘fix’ it. But after meeting her husband, Peter Zerfahs, 47, and becoming a mum she realised she didn't want to "hide" from her four children - aged 10, eight, five and two.

Frith, a police officer, who lives near Inverness, Scotland, said: "Becoming a mother changed my attitude towards it [the birthmark]. I was putting make-up on and I realised I didn't want to hide from him [her eldest son]. I stopped wearing make-up. I never wear make-up to cover up my birthmark.”

Not wearing make-up is ‘freeing’

The mum-of-four says that not wearing make-up is ‘freeing’.

Firth grew up in a remote part of Scotland and was never bullied at school for her birthmark, but says she felt ‘different’ because there was no representation in the media or on TV.

She recalls an instance that pushed her to go for laser treatment for a final time - when she was in a taxi and the driver made her feel uncomfortable. "He was looking at me in the mirror. He said 'is that a birthmark on your face?' 'I saw a programme the other day - you know you can get lasers to remove it'.”

But after travelling and training as a police officer, Frith became more confident.

‘My kids draw me with my birthmark’

Firth's youngest daughter recently scribbled on her doll - to represent her mum's birthmark. She said: "She was going through a stage where she just scribbled on anything. She loves this doll. I saw she had scribbled on something else - it wasn't an automatic reaction.

"I thought 'wait a minute, that's a similar colour and position to my birthmark'. It was a very special feeling. All my kids draw me with my birthmark. They've all said they wish they could look like me. That means the world to me."

‘Brands are being more inclusive’

Firth shares her story on social media and says she gets messages daily from those who tell her her birthmark is "beautiful" and "unique".

She hopes to continue to see more representation for visible differences - such as brands continuing to bring out dolls with birthmarks or being more inclusive with the models they choose.

Frith said: "I do think attitudes are changing."