Gold Coast-based stay-at-home mom Brooke Atkins, 33, welcomed her second child, a baby boy named Kingsley, six months ago.

But shortly after her birth, Brooke and her partner Kewee Wallace, 27, noticed a large “port cleaning” mark covering half of her face.

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An Australian mother has revealed that cruel trolls called her a ‘mother’ for choosing to laser remove her baby’s facial birthmark – but claims she did it to help her son.

Stay-at-home mom Brooke Atkis, 33, from the Gold Coast, welcomed her second child, a baby boy named Kingsley, six months ago. But shortly after her birth, Brooke and her partner Kewee Wallace, 27, noticed a large “port cleaning” mark covering half of her face. Kinngsley is pictured after her laser treatment

Port-cleaned tin birthmarks are usually harmless, but if they are on the face, particularly over the eye, they may be linked to glaucoma and Sturge Weber syndrome.

The birthmark causes seizures and other disabilities, while glaucoma causes blindness. Kingsley is pictured after laser treatment.

Port-cleaned tin birthmarks are usually harmless, but if they are on the face, particularly over the eye, they may be linked to glaucoma and Sturge Weber syndrome.

This causes seizures and other disabilities, while glaucoma causes blindness.

Kigsley was diagnosed with both.

“The thing about port stairs is that they are progressive, meaning they will change and darken over time,” said Brooke, who is also mother to Amarpi, two.

Mom talks about having laser surgery for her baby’s birthmark

“The thing about port stairs is that they are progressive, meaning they will change and darken over time,” said Brooke (pictured), who is also mother to two-year-old Amarpi.

Brooke decided to remove her birthmark as they can become harmful and bleed.

Kingsley is pictured before undergoing his first laser treatment to remove his port birthmark.

A port ladder is a birthmark caused by the overdevelopment of blood vessels under the port.

The change in blood vessels is caused by a genetic mutation that occurs before a child is born and will remain for the rest of a person’s life, although the severity of the changes differs between people.

Harbor stairs start out as a flat red or purple marking and over time become higher, thicker, and darker in color.

They can appear anywhere on the body, but 65 percent of them appear on a person’s head or beak.

About three in every 1,000 babies have a fixed wiper port, and girls are more common than boys, although the reason for this is not known.

Treatment usually involves laser treatment to remove some of the dark color of the mark or camouflage the discoloration using a special type of makeup.

‘They can develop a “cobblestone” appearance, with raised bumps, ridges and the risk of forming vascular blisters, where they bleed dangerously.

“When a cleaning port reaches this stage, it is often very difficult to treat and the laser has little effect as the port is already too damaged.”