Girl abandoned at birth for her appearance wants to prove the world wrong—she now models for Vogue

A baby girl born with albinism was abandoned by her parents.  She appeared too “weird” for them, so they abandoned her at an orphanage door.  Try not to smile if you see her today.

Albinism is an uncommon hereditary lifelong illness that affects people of all races and ethnicities across the world.  It causes reduced synthesis of a pigment known as melanin in the skin, hair, and eyes, resulting in light or no colour.  Unfortunately, persons with the illness are frequently perceived as unusual and stigmatised, particularly in developing nations.

A child with albinism was born in China around 16 years ago, and when her parents noticed her snow-white complexion, they opted not to bring her home.  Unfortunately, the young one ended up in an orphanage barely days after her birth.  This sounded terrible, and the workers at the orphanage, who called her Xueli, which means “snow white and lovely,” felt sad for her.  However, they had no idea that she would be adopted by a loving family from the Netherlands, who would give her a happy life.

When she was 11, Xueli was found by a well-known Hong Kong photographer, who invited her to participate in a campaign showing several people, each of whom was unique in their beauty.

“She termed the ad ‘perfect imperfections’ and invited me to join her fashion show in Hong Kong,” Xueli Abbing told the BBC.  “What a great experience.”

In some areas of the world, it is thought that folks with albinism’s bones have medicinal properties, hence some of these people are disfigured and have their fingers, limbs, or legs severed.

Xueli acknowledges that she is fortunate to have simply been abandoned.

After the images of her were released on social media, a London-based photographer took Xueli under her wing and helped her land the cover of Vogue Italia magazine’s June 2019 issue.

“At the time, I had no idea how significant the magazine was, and it took me a long to understand why people were so enthused about it,” this beauty recounted.

“There are still models that are eight foot two and slim, but individuals with impairments or peculiarities are getting more attention in the media, which is fantastic – but it should be normal,” she remarked in the interview.

“Maybe since I can’t see things well, I concentrate more on people’s voices and what they have to say,” she explained in an interview.  “So their inner beauty means more to me.”

Xueli is doing everything she can to raise awareness about persons with albinism.

“I want to use modelling to talk about albinism and show that it’s a hereditary illness, not a burden,” she explains.  “The way to talk about it is to say ‘a person with albinism,’ since being ‘an albino’ sounds like it defines you.

“I refuse to believe that children are being slaughtered because of their albinism.  “I want to change the world,” she explained.

We are grateful that there are people like this 16-year-old beauty who show us that it is our diversity that make the world a lovely and colourful place.

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