Stephanie and Dan Dworksy were shocked when they laid eyes on their newborn son, Kacy, for the first time.
Kacy was born with melanocytic nevus, a skin condition that causes large black spots all over the body.
“They were just everywhere. Spots on his face, on his legs, his back is covered,” says mother Stephanie.
The condition affects 1 in 500,000 people and comes with an increased risk of skin cancer—but otherwise, the effects are mainly cosmetic.
Stephanie lives with guilt every day because of her son’s spots.
“You know, you go through 10 months doing everything you can to have a perfect pregnancy and be healthy, and then you think you did something wrong,” she says.
Stephanie realizes that her son is different and that their lives would be affected because of it. But the family is now working to raise awareness about their son’s rare condition.
Stephanie and Dan Dworksy were shocked when they laid eyes on their newborn baby, Kacy, for the first time.
Kacy Daniel was born on June 9, 2016, with melanocytic nevus, a skin condition that causes large black spots all over the body. He had a Giant Arm Nevus on his left arm and “satellites” all over his body.
“They were just everywhere. Spots on his face, on his legs, his back is covered,” his mother Stephanie told CBS Los Angeles.
The condition affects 1 in 500,000 people and comes with an increased risk of skin cancer—not to mention the social challenges his parents feared he would face, which as a parent is unbearable to even think about.
Otherwise, the effects of the spots are purely cosmetic.
But Stephanie explained in 2016 that she lived with guilt every day because of her son’s spots.
“You know, you go through 10 months doing everything you can to have a perfect pregnancy and be healthy, and then you think you did something wrong,” she said.
Stephanie realized that her baby was different and that their lives would be affected because of it. But the family was determined to raise awareness about their son’s rare condition. When Kacy was born, doctors warned that his appearance would likely cause unwanted stares and comments.
“People are going to stare at him, kids may say some mean things (…) you may even find parents that don’t want their kids to be near him, because they don’t know what this is,” father Dan says.
The fear of seeing or hearing her son being ridiculed or bullied has sometimes made Stephanie avoid going out.
“I try not to go out, and I feel so guilty about it,” says Stephanie.
There are no easy solutions when you have a child who looks a little different and you have no control over people’s prejudices.
But the couple is now trying to change people’s perceptions by creating more awareness about rare skin disorders—hoping, in turn, to give their baby boy a better future.
We hope that spreading awareness about Kacy’s condition will help the public better understand his condition and realize that he is a sweet baby just like any other.
Please share Kacy’s story to support the Dworksys’ mission to spread awareness about his condition and help people realize there is nothing dangerous about it!
