When Luna Tavares-Fenner was born in 2019, her “Batman birthmark” fascinated everyone.
Recently she went viral on social media, and there’s a great reason for it.
She was able to remove her birthmark after a high-tech, pioneering surgery. And to be honest, you’ll have a hard time keeping the smile when you see her today…
Luna Tavares-Fenner from Florida is like any 3-year-old. She likes to eat, laugh and bounce around at home and outside.
Unfortunately, Luna was born with congenital melanocytic nevus which affected both her and her family.
Giant congenital melanocytic nevus is a skin condition characterized by an abnormally dark, noncancerous skin patch (nevus) that is composed of pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. It is present from birth (congenital) or is noticeable soon after birth.
Luna’s mom was shocked when she gave birth to her daughter. After noticing a dark patch on her face, she was a bit afraid.
Luna was born with a dark patch on her face that resembles a Batman mask.
“I’m used to it now, but then I was just shocked,” Carol told WPLG in 2019.
It’s understandable why Carol was afraid.
When our child is born they literally mean more to us than anything in the world, including ourselves.
She had no idea that her daughter would look different because her last ultrasound didn’t reveal anything abnormal.
Just four days before Luna was born, doctors spotted a dark patch on her face and she was kept in the hospital for 6 days after birth while doctors ran tests.
After thorough research, doctors concluded that the dark patch might pose a serious threat in the future like skin cancer, and doctors recommended several options.
Carol really wanted her daughter to live a normal life and remove the patch on her face, but there had to be at least six surgeries done on her and each would cost around 40,000$.
Luna’s mom started searching for the funds everywhere she could. It was tough for the family.
“We saw a lot of doctors. We went to Boston, Chicago and New York trying to find a better result,” Carol said.
Carol wanted Luna to have the surgery before she went to school to avoid being teased. But even at a young age, Luna and her family had to put up with idiotic comments from people who had no idea how it was to be born with dark patch throughout the entire face.
Many parents facing the same would choose to hide their daughter to avoid any ridicule, but not Carol. She used the shortcoming to spread awareness about her daughter’s disease. She created an Instagram page where people could see her day-to-day life.
After hearing about Luna’s particular situation, Russian surgeon-oncologist Dr. Pavel Borisovich Popov contacted Carol and offered to perform a treatment not available in the United States.
But the treatment was very expensive and the only way to make it available was to ask the public for help. Luna’s family created a fundraiser to help with the costs, collecting a whooping $70k from people who wanted to help.
“Everybody thinks I’m crazy to go to Russia, but I have done a lot of research and gained advice from several doctors and I really think that this is the best option for Luna right now,” Carol told SWNS in 2019.
For the last couple of years, it wasn’t easy for Carol and Luna to travel back and forth to Russia in the middle of the pandemic to run tests. Thankfully, all the operations to date were successful!
Dr. Pavel Borisovich Popov is highly satisfied with the results – he believes that the risk of Luna getting cancer has decreased drastically.
”We only had six operations to remove the nevus and have succeeded in making it disappear,” Dr. Popov told East2West News and continued:
”Luna has already started speaking and she says herself: ‘My black spot has gone. I am a princess’.”
The main medical part of the task is completed, according to Dr. Popov, but it doesn’t mean the journey has ended.
“We are letting Luna rest from the treatment she has undergone and then we will undertake the aesthetic surgeries. Later we aim to make sure Luna will not have any complexes when she comes to the age where she is concerned about her appearance,” Dr. Popov explains.
It was a huge relief for the family that they’ve taken a huge leap in the right direction. Luna proved to be the courageous, brave girl she always was.
“I don’t regret at all having the treatment here. Luna doesn’t feel the pain. She dances a few hours after the surgery,” Carol says, according to The Daily Mail.
Today, the family proudly present Luna in front of people with the stunning change she made, thanks to Dr. Popov. What’s more important, she is really happy with her outcome!
Looking at the recent photos of Luna, she made incredible changes. I’m so glad she got to live a normal life like she deserves, because people can be really mean sometimes.
Last year they flew to Brazil to celebrate Christmas, as Carol is an American citizen but originally from Brazil.
According to her mother, the year 2022 has been the only year Luna hasn’t had any treatment.
”The year is flying by and we still haven’t decided anything about the next surgeries (location, date, price…). Let’s keep making the most of 2022, which was the only year of Our princess’s life without procedures ♥️♥️♥️”
We wish all the love, health and happiness to this blessed family!