I had an en-caul birth, born inside the entire amniotic sac. The nuns in the hospital called me ‘the gifted child of God “.I was born with many talents and developed a sixth sense, just to help people around me. but I never had the feeling “being special”.
As a newborn baby it quickly became clear that something was off with my eyes. Congenital cataract. After a few months the lens was removed from my left eye. Because of this condition, my eye didn’t grow any further and it turned from blue to green. As a teenager I struggled a lot with the difference in my eyes. Everything what is different, is an occasion for bullying on this age. This brought me a lot of insecurities. Now, after almost 10 years, I got the chance for this project. For people with different eye colors, my bullies didn’t get this opportunity. I am happy to grab this chance to make something beautiful out of my specialness. Nowadays I work as a teacher on an elementary school. Occasionally, the children notice my eyes and comment on that. Not always tactical, but very funny. One time, an 8 year old boy was very angry. I tried to calm him down by talking to him. He looked at me with his angry eyes and and suddenly his looked changed and he said: WOW TEACHER, your eyes are really cool. His anger disappeared. That was convenient! Piece by piece I accept my special eyes and I see it as something unique. This experience helps with this and I am grateful for that.
One day, i open my eyes. One week after, one of the blue eyes i had turned to a dark brown. It surprised my family which love them immediately. It wasn’t a surprise for me. Everyday in the mirror, i saw a girl with different eyes. It were normal for me. But when i started school… I saw that no one have the same eyes like mine. Children didn’t understand and taught that i was a monster or an alien. A lot of children of my age didn’t want to play with me. But others give me a chance. Years after years, I’m feeling alone even if i had few friends. I was convinced that i was adopt, or an alien, or a Nature’s mistake. My childhood was hard. And lonely. So I created my own world with heroes, dragons etc and i find my passion for theater. I follow my passion in a theater school now to become actress. Thanks to that, i learnt to accept myself and to see an advantage to have a difference. I was not afraid of others and assume my difference. Since that point, people comes to me, around my 18 years. And opinions have change. People start to tell me that it is wonderful and beautiful. But i’m feeling alone because in my little town in the north of France, I was the only one with hétérochromia. I thought that I was like Clark Kent, arrived in a meteorite rain, on a ship ! And facebook gives me breath. I found a lot of groups with a LOOOOT of people around the world like me ! I was not alone any more. I was so happy… That day and today that you read my article.
My history isn’t spectacular or uncommon. I know that everywhere on earth, there are a lot of heterochromians or people with differences who are afraid and convinced like i was that they are monsters or mistakes.
No ! You aren’t ! It is a Nature’s gifs to you. You are beautiful and you are not like all the others. you are you. be proud of it.
And more important : You are not alone.
We are all here, like you : different and proud.
My son – Trey posted the picture above can submit other photos just chose one of him closest up – filter doesn’t have an effect on his eye color -that’s his eyes … he is eleven and very down on himself for his “condition” … instead of feeling unique as he is, he feels different and gets picked on for that !
This is for my daughter. She was born with complete heterochromia. When I first found out she had different coloured eyes I worried about what color eye shadows she could wear. Now that she’s 3, there are no fears. I encourage her to embrace it and love it. She knows they’re different and tells people. I want her to be proud that she is different and unique as she grows. Her older sister is proud to show off her baby sister, saying she is a gift.
Okay, Heterochromia Iridum. No one really cared what you looked like. Your skin color, your hair type, your eye color. It was all thrown in the bin of “Who cares?”. Imagine this. You live in a world where you have an eye color of your own and one from the color of your soulmates. Sounds simple, right? Not when everything gets complicated. Then you’re completely wrong.
“Are you a witch?”, ” Are you vitamin deficient?”. A few of the questions I’ve been asked, not only by a health professional but the ultimately curious. No, I say, but I do have mood rings for eyes. A week after I was born my eyes decided that I was gonna be different…They decided that the soul I hold is worth looking into. They say the eyes are the window to the soul and I believe that. I have a peace sign in my eye, it represents the peace I long for the world to see. I do believe that this genetic abnormality offers me a view that many might not be able to see. I have also been told that the light in my eyes makes other’s see light in things bigger than themselves. Whether this is because I am personally more aware or because I make other’s more aware, I am not sure. What I do know is, I have a spirit many haven’t come across before, and whether the uniqueness of my eyes or the uniqueness of my soul is to blame, I cannot be sure. What I do know. All that meet me, can never forget me.
I was born with congenital cataracts which caused me to have a lazy eye. I had a million surgeries, so it’s corrected but I was never really comfortable with my eyes. They were weird. I hid behind glasses for years. Something about your 30’s just makes you finally truly embrace your whole self. Now I let the freak flag fly.
I was born with Heterochomia. Left eye, light blue with dark blue/gray outer border. Right, green with a spot of brown & an outer gray/blue ring. As a kid, I was teased relentlessly. The worst being called the daughter of the devil. My Dad was wonderful at handling it. He simply told me that he was the devil & anyone who called me that in a negative way, would surely be punished & sent to hell. He instructed me to state, proudly, “why YESSSSSSS, I am his daughter!”I got so good of convincing my harassers of this that by high school, everyone was truly afraid to say anything to me!
As I got older, I loved having two different colored eyes. It’s a great conversation starter! And, people compliment me on them now, because they are unique.
I’m so glad to be able to connect with others who have the same condition. Thank you so much for starting the Heterochomia Project!
Heterochromia Photography Project - Book 