Here's why Vicki Belo doesn't want to be greeted on her birthday
To most, birthdays are fun and a cause for celebration but to celebrity doctor Vicki Belo, her birthday is usually the saddest day of her year and there's a traumatic reason behind it.
Her life as an adopted child was never a secret. In her tell-all interview on talent manager Ogie Diaz's YouTube channel, the doctor did not shy away from sharing her painful childhood. Being given away by her mother has caused massive emotional torture to Vicki. More over, the painful bullying she had to endure growing up drew a scar that even to this day, she found no treatment for.
“Ever since I was young, feeling ko, especially coz I'm adopted lang, ampon lang ako, parang pinamigay talaga ako kasi nu'ng pinanganak ako. Never ako hinawakan ng nanay ko so right away dinala na nila ako sa incubator tapos hinintay ko na lang 'yung Belo mom kasi I was born in Cebu,” she said.
“My Belo mom was from Manila she had to fly so in my head it was not happy, parang pinanganak ka pa lang pinamigay ka na. So when I think of that since I have so many issues about adoption about not being good enough, about not being lovable, she added.
Best birthday gift is to 'not greet me'
While others drown in greetings every time one celebrates his/her birthday, Vicki on the flipside, actually hates the “happy birthdays” and prefers to let her day pass without any celebration. For her, the fact that she was given away on the day she was born was reason enough for her to never feel something was worth celebrating on her birthday.
“I don't like to be greeted. Di'ba, happy birthday, sino naman happy sa birthday ko wala naman, I mean in my head. My mom and dad gave me [away] on my birthday so wala bumabalik lang talaga ang pain. So the best gift that you can give me is not to greet me. So when people greet me happy birthday I can only be plastik for just a short time. So when people say happy birthday I go, thank you, thank you, after a while umiiyak na ko parang tama na 'wag n'yo na ko igreet. Kasi that's still a pain,” she said.
Being a public figure however, she not only gets greetings from personal friends and family, she also gets well-wishes from her millions of followers which makes it even harder for her to ignore her special day. Hence, she simply deals with it by hiding from the world.
“Lagi ako umaalis, nagpapatay ako [ng cellphone] para hindi ko na makita. Kaya nung last pandemic hindi ako nakaalis so medyo it's gonna be better naman.”
Despite the emotional damage, Belo was able to find it in her heart to forgive her birth parents for giving her away. Just like most unfortunate stories, she knew things happen for a reason. She remains thankful for having been entrusted to the right people because they became instrumental for her success.
“Alam mo Ogie, pinatawad ko na 'yung aking biological mom and dad but I was never okay to tell her na it's okay mom masakit nga pero sobra akong grateful sa'yo kasi you made sure you gave me to the right people my most wonderful parents.”
Take a look at Dra. Vicki Belo's transformations in this gallery: