Rhiannon Ingle
A body piercer is being congratulated online after refusing one father's request to pierce his baby's ears.
Upon finding out how old the baby was - the piercer said that they had to focus heavily on not letting their 'inside voice pop off'.
Check their video here:
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Adhum Price, a body piercer based at the Blue Banana piercing studio in Birmingham, took to TikTok and re-enacted the 'actual conversation' they had with the customer in question.
Role-playing as the customer, the piercer began: "Yes, hello. Good afternoon. Do you do piercings?"
"Good afternoon? Yes, we are a piercing studio," they responded back.
According to Adhum, the customer then asked: "Can I please get my baby's ears pierced?"
Following the studio's protocol, the piercer asked the father 'how old' his baby was and was left totally shocked upon finding out just how young the child was.
"My baby is two weeks old," the father replied.
Taking a few moments to really digest the parent's response, Adhum reenacted their 'actual answer' to the request.
"No, sorry, we wouldn't piece your baby's ears at two weeks old."
Taking no time to respond, the customer then asked: "So, how old would you pierce my child's ears?"
Adhum revealed that they were trying to stay 'calm and collected' at this point in the conversation.
"Yeah we only really go from eight years upwards and even then it's a case of informed consent," they explained.
"You kind of have to have a conversation with your kid and find out whether it's something they want to go through with."
Adhum then continued listing the issues: "Whether they're comfortable with having them [ears] pierced and whether you know, they're alright with us using needles for this procedure."
Clearly not catching Adhum's drift, the father responded: "Oh, they're fine with needles. They're fine with needles."
At this point, Adhum confessed they were 'really fighting the demons inside of me'.
"Sir," the piercer explained, "they're two weeks old."
Taking one last attempt, the customer asked: "So you won't do them" to which Adhum reiterated again 'no'.
And the encounter wasn't only shocking for the piercer as many online also found issue with the father's request.
"Waiting for the 'they won't even remember the pain!' brigade," commented one TikTok user.
While a second revealed that they 'still can’t believe it’s a thing.'
Another, who'd underwent an ear piercing as a baby, also shared their opinions on the situation.
She revealed: "Currently correcting my first ear [sic] piercing as they were horrendously off!! l was pierced as a baby!!"
Many praised the piercer, with one writing: "Drives me crazy that some parents feel they have ownership of their child’s body. Thanks for being a voice of reason!"
"Can’t stand the thought of people piercing babies," a final TikTok user stated before calling it 'disgusting behaviour'.
They added: "Babies aren’t fashion accessories."
While some noted that they 'can't remember' their own ear piercings as a child - it's clear that most people were on Adhum's side.