Young Woman Was Bullied for Her Birthmarks–Now She Is a Model and Advocates Body Positivity

(Photo courtesy of Marynevus)

A young woman from Bremen, Germany, was born covered in birthmarks due to a rare skin condition. She was bullied relentlessly as a child, but she didn’t let cruelty bring her down. Instead, she focused on working on her confidence and on building a successful modeling career.

When Marika Nagy (a.k.a Marynevus) was born, her parents were a “little shocked” to discover that she was covered in spots, her father recalls in an interview with Barcroft TV in 2018. Doctors had even told the parents their newborn had a 50 percent chance of not surviving. She was then diagnosed with a condition called congenital nevus, which is a type of birthmark that covers a large portion of her skin. Marynevus started as an infant, and she had to undergo seven skin removal surgeries. And she also runs a higher risk of developing cancer.

Photo courtesy of Marynevus

Photo courtesy of Marynevus

As she grew older, not only did the number of moles on her skin became more visible, but she started experiencing cruelty from her peers. “People called me names like ‘‘dalmatian,’ ‘ugly,’ ‘dirty,’ not ‘worthy,’” she explains in an interview with Barcroft TV. “I had to deal with bullying. I didn’t have many friends,” the young woman adds.

“Growing up with my condition was very hard. I had to just try and deal with the bullying and the depression that would come from that.”

However, after she graduated, that all began to change. Marynevus explains that after school, she started working on increasing her self confidence, especially after giving birth to her baby. She claims that it was then she realized she didn’t want her newborn to experience any adversity over his looks, she said in an inspiring commercial for Gillette called “My Skin. My Way.”

The single mom describes her son, Milan, as “bubbly, cheeky, and a very happy baby,” per Barcroft. However, she did admit her pregnancy was a stressful time. While doctors assured her she couldn’t pass on the same skin condition to her son, she remained worried up until the day she gave birth. Marynevus recalls that as soon as her son was born, she “checked him over” to make sure he didn’t have the same birthmarks as she. And she was relieved that wasn’t the case.

As a new model, Marynevus said that even though she’s just started her career, she is getting a lot of attention. “I seem to be a kind of a new beauty standard,” she explains. “I’m very proud to see how far I’ve come in such a short amount of time. I only started a couple of months back and seeing the reactions and the interest in me and my condition.” Not only is she getting modeling work, but the brave young woman is also reaching out and sharing her beauty with over 3,000 followers on Instagram.

Photo courtesy of herzfarben.fotografie

During the interview, her father said that both he and his wife are “very proud” of all her achievements so far.

“I think beauty means diversity and beauty doesn’t come in one size, one color, one shape,” Marynevus says at the end of her awe-inspiring interview per Barcroft TV. “It comes in a variety of others. And I’m actually quite proud of the way that I look. I’m trying to show the real me, to be authentic. And I think that’s actually my own little personal key to success.”

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