Woman labelled 'alien' for having no belly button embraces her uniqueness; inspires others

A woman born without the belly button, the essential remnant of the umbilical cord at the time of birth, is being mocked as an ‘alien’ by the trolls. She, however, stated that she feels pride in embracing her uniqueness despite the 'boos' that she often gets both online and in the physical world. Jess Kaufman was born with an omphalocele, a rare birth defect according to LADBible. This is a condition wherein the infant’s organs develop on the outside of the abdominal wall during the pregnancy of the mother. Medics, at the time of the birth, have to rearrange the organs back inside the baby. Although oblivious about her condition, the internet often calls the 30-year-old an ‘alien’. Kaufman’s umbilical cord wasn't cut externally as normally, and so, her tummy appears flat with no belly button. This unfortunately has made the woman victim of bullying. 

'Her confidence built up..' says Jess

Jess proudly shows off her stomach and 'no belly button piercing’ reports LADBible, adding that her confidence built up with all the harassment that she faced. Earlier the latter would wonder as to why she didn't have a belly button, but eventually, she learned to accept her bodily flaw. Everyone would call her an alien, or, they would even go ‘ew’, she added. “I was really self-conscious about it so I would cover it up and only wear one-piece swimsuits. It made me hyper-aware of my body. People were always telling me I could get surgery to fix it when I was older which made me think that if my body wasn't perfect I needed to 'fix' it,” her statement to LADBible read. 

Jess then commenced on her own health journey aged just 21 years old and the self-conscious woman who would cover her belly up would now wear crop tops in order to propagate the positive body image that she had built in her mind. Initially, she was “hyper-aware” of her body, while she was also asked by friends and colleagues to get surgery because her body wasn’t ‘perfect’. “I started to be a lot more accepting of it and realized it's part of my story and who I am. Now I wouldn't change it even if someone gave me the opportunity to,” she was quoted as saying.

Jess was adopted as a baby and her birth defect was a part of her mom’s pregnancy complications. She was lucky to be alive, her mother was reportedly told by the doctors. As the trend of the belly button piercing took off, her brother piercing apprentice, Taylor, helped her get a DIY surface piercing in an inclusive move. "I laid down on the kitchen table and he did it and I've had it ever since, I love it,” the mother to eight-year-old said. While her son has always been curious about her missing belly button, the latter has been able to lend an explanation saying that there was “nothing wrong with it.”