Man abandoned by parents because they didn't like his face learns to love himself
Being called ugly can already cut deep for some people, but that nowhere near compares to what happened to this man who was abandoned by his very own parents when he was just a baby because they didn't like his face.
Jono Lancaster, a 38-year-old man living in West Yorkshire, was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by noticeable abnormalities of the head and face. This condition has led him to have an underdeveloped jaw, no cheekbones, and little ears.
In a recent interview, he explained that he was adopted at the age of five by his mother Jean. However, it was only when he was 24 years old that he found out the heartbreaking truth about his biological parents after receiving a hospital document.
It read: "Both parents were horrified by the child's appearance. Both parents felt no maternal bond. Both parents left the hospital 36 hours later, leaving the child behind."
But Lancaster seemed to have expected the revelation, having already surmised that his appearance was the cause of his parents' heartless decision.
"I was forming the pieces, I was creating the answers, and at that point, they left me because I looked different. They left me because I looked like this and it destroyed me," Lancaster bared.
He recounted that while he experienced bullying growing up, he still had a "safe, close-knit environment" to come to when he needed help. But everything changed during his time in high school.
"All of a sudden there were all these kids that hadn't seen me before. I was exposed to the older kids. And then all of a sudden the pointing, the name-calling, kids pulling their eyes down towards me, just laughing at me... that's when my differences weren't cool anymore, I wasn't able to celebrate them," Lancaster said.
The storm finally started to recede when he reached the age of 20 as he went through a four-year period of "growth and healing" that helped his confidence in himself flourish.
"My friendships were there, I was talking to them. I was in a healthy relationship, I had a job, I was in a very good place," he said.
Despite his condition, he has eventually learned to embrace and love his appearance and is now using his experiences to help others. He now heads a charity called Love Me Love My Face Foundation that aims to support individuals who have the same condition as him, as well as others with craniofacial disorders.
During this time, he gathered the courage to reach out to his biological parents to let them know that he was doing fine, but the contact was rejected. Despite this, he was thankful to them for welcoming him into the world.
"They brought me into this world and it's down to me to live this life and make the most of this life. And it's a beautiful life, now anyway, so for that I'm forever blessed," Lancaster said.