0:00
I actually didn't know what albinism was until my son was born
0:04
I felt like they gave me the wrong baby. To me, she was Caucasian
0:10
One day, I was just looking at him, and he was just looking at me, and he just smiled
0:16
It just melted my heart. When I gave birth again, I seen a head full of blonde hair
0:23
Instantly, I'm like, KD, it's not alone. It was a combination of reactions
0:28
They're whitewashed. That's not your daughter. Oh, hold on one second. You gonna do the AC thing
0:37
Yeah. But I'm scared I might crack it. I'm bad at making gags
0:43
There, oh my, you did it. Yeah, I did it. Yep, you did it
0:47
My name is Ashley, and I'm 34 years old. My oldest is Stanley, but we all know him as Boom, and he is 16
0:55
My second son, Katie, he is 13. And then we have Munchie, and she is 11
1:04
And then we have Titi, who is 10. And then we have Chase, which he goes by CO
1:10
He is nice. Since I have a lot of kids, I try to make them a big breakfast
1:15
because I know they won't get full real quickly. Do you ever help in the kitchen? No
1:23
Sometimes if I want to cook in the kitchen, I would ask my mom, but either my granddad or my big brother has to watch me
1:31
My eyesight's bad, so really they don't really trust me in the kitchen that much. So I have to somebody supervise me
1:36
I actually didn't even know what albinism was until my son was born
1:42
I didn't realize that something was wrong until I was breastfeeding him and he had on his little hat
1:48
And I thought he had like a lint stuck to his hair
1:53
And when I went to go pull it, it was actually attached
1:56
And so when I took the hat off, I damn nearly just froze
2:03
I was like oh my gosh he has a lot of blonde hair I started freaking out Like I went in a total eruption of emotions
2:13
because he should have came out my color and he did not come out my color
2:17
And I felt like somehow maybe the nurses probably swapped the babies
2:22
Like something was definitely wrong because I totally believe that that was not my child
2:29
I'm gonna change my fork real quick. It literally took like two days
2:32
before a doctor actually came in my room and told me that my son had oculocutaneous albinisms
2:39
And I said, well, what is that? And they just said, where a child lacks pigment and they have no color
2:48
I mean, to me, he looked nothing like me. And to me, he was Caucasian
2:54
That's what I stood on. That's what I felt. So it was very hard trying to have a bond, and I was already being judged before he had even come home
3:08
Did you sleep with a white man? You had to have because you and dad are the same complexion, so how did you create this type of child
3:18
I felt like they gave me the wrong baby. There was nothing nobody could honestly tell me for me to believe that it was my baby
3:28
Even though I birthed a child, but at the end of the day, I just couldn't accept that
3:36
One day that KD was crying, I was just looking at him and he was just looking at me
3:43
And I was just talking to him and he just smiled. And it was like, I just finally embraced it
3:52
Like it was the way he smiled. It just melted my heart so much
3:58
and I just, I fell in love with him. I wouldn't let him go
4:04
I wouldn't put him down. Here is a picture of KD. This is when he was in his bassinet
4:10
You can see how precious he was When we talked to the doctors I had specifically asked could this happen again And they were telling me it was very rare So when I gave birth again dad said she albino
4:26
And I said, you're lying. Soon as they washed her up, I seen a head full of blonde hair
4:33
But my reaction was very different. Here's a throwback little picture of TT looking cute
4:41
because it was like instantly, I'm like, KD is not alone. Here goes TT's newborn picture
4:49
They do look like they could be twins, a boy and a girl
4:53
There you have it, there's TT. Hey, Daddy
5:05
How's everyone doing? Old family here. It's got the whole squad. Can you tell us about your decision to start making TikTok videos and sharing your family's story on them
5:16
Well, I've always told the kids, I said, you know, if we do something very creative, I feel like we will go viral
5:24
And it took us two years. November 4th, I did a hair tutorial on TT
5:30
And within two days, we had six million views. Yay! Yay, TT
5:36
Yay, TT! Yay, TT! Yay! Yay! It was a combination of reactions
5:42
A lot of positive and a lot of negative. People being downright racist
5:49
They're whitewashed. That's not your daughter. You're just using your adopted daughter for clout
5:56
People are not being educated enough in looking at our content because there's a lot of people saying they're not black
6:03
they were adopted. That's not their mom. It was very painful. The fact that people don't think that they're mine
6:10
But what's crazy is my daughter looks just like me. So I don't know why people feel like she's not my child
6:19
But the only reason that I can think of is because her skin color On Facebook I had got a message request somebody had tt photo with the ku klux klan okay what up what a rope with a rope now i don know if the rope was around
6:37
her neck i really can't remember but the rope was there there's some hateful people out there
6:43
Some small-minded people just react hatefully. And it's not really much you can do that when you open yourself up on the informational highway
6:56
There's no way you can avoid it. I don't feed into it because when you respond to the negativity
7:03
then they're going to come back with more negativity because they have nothing else better to do
7:08
So I'm not going to even give them that power. I'm kidding. I'm kidding
7:12
I'm kidding. Say I'm fearless! I'm fearless! Let's go! So are you ever worried about, worried or concerned for Katie and TT being affected by these judgments of hate
7:29
Honestly, no, because they're built just like me. They let it roll off their shoulders and they really don't care what people think
7:36
Affirmations are very important to me And I give it to my kids
7:43
Every day You're handsome You're beautiful You're smart You're intelligent Let's start educating people
7:55
And bringing more awareness Instead of The stares The comments As you look at
8:05
TT and KD, they're themselves. They're no different than any other child
8:10
I'm not worried about their future. I see their futures being definitely bright
8:14
They're beautiful kids, and they could do anything that they put their mind to
8:19
I let my kids be kids, and I support them every step of the way
