Mother of twins gets her child tattooed to tell him apart from his brother
Internet - A mother had one of her children's earlobes tattooed to help tell them apart.
On Saturday, the 31-year-old woman shared her unusual story on Reddit.
In her post, she told the community about her fraternal twin baby boys Jack and Adam, whom she loves with all her heart.
"Thing is Jake has a condition. Without going into detail, requires a shot once a week," the woman wrote.
And while this seemed to be no problem at first, one day, while the boys were at their grandparents' house, the woman's mother-in-law accidentally gave the injection to the wrong twin.
"Now they may be fraternal but they look identical. I'll be honest my husband and I even mix them up sometimes. Everyone does," the mother explained.
Luckily, there was never any real danger and the mistake was easily fixed at the hospital: "Its a very slow acting medication that, at worst, would have given him diarrhea in a few days."
Doctor recommends a medical tattoo
However, the mother-in-law was still "beside herself" and the experience made her too scared to ever babysit the boys again, leaving the young woman in a very tight spot. Even at daycare, the workers were concerned about confusing the two boys.
She knew something had to be done and so she went to her doctor to get some advice. The suggestion she got might sound a bit extreme.
Her doctor recommended a medical tattoo, "a freckle, no bigger then the end of a pencil eraser, on an area of skin that's easily seen while the child is under mild sedation similar to dental offices."
Reddit users were quite understanding
The young mother decided to follow the advice. After all, the tattoo would be incredibly small, barely recognizable, and will fade within the next two to four years. And in addition, it might save her son's life!
However, her mother-in-law "freaked out" when she heard about the news. She was shocked by the idea and accused her of going too far by altering the little boy's body.
In contrast, Reddit users were far more understanding.
"[I'd] rather tattoo my kids with Barney the dinosaur on their whole body than risk messing up medication," one user replied.
Another one described a similar experience from their past: "Am an identical twin. A similar thing happened to us when we were really young, about four - I was the one who got her penicillin and nearly died ... I WISH someone had tattooed my ear."
Cover photo: 123rf/ Olga Yastremska