A mother has outraged parents by posting a photo of her baby daughter with a dimple 'piercing' – but all was not as it seemed.

In a Facebook post, Enedina Vance, from Ohio, wrote: "So I got the baby girl's dimple pierced. It looks so cute, right? I just know she's gonna love it. She'll thank me when she's older lol.

"If she decides she doesn't like it, she can just take it out, no big deal. I'm the parent, she is my child, I will do whatever I want. I made her, I own her."

The image was shared 12,000 times and received more than 100 comments – and many of those who thought it was real were appalled.

But in amongst the hashtags at the bottom of the post was a clue to the truth behind the story - #sarcasm.

Ms Vance says she wanted to shock parents and start a conversation about the rights and wrongs of parents altering their children's bodies.

She says she's been campaigning against child circumcision, after being asked by a doctor in 1998 whether she wanted her son's foreskin removed.

She says she wanted to make clear that some parents who thought it outrageous to have a child's face pierced would have no problem with choosing to have a child circumcised.

The reasons for boys and men being circumcised range from religious and cultural reasons, to medical and hygiene concerns.

In a follow-up post, she wrote: "So it appears that the focus was on how insane it would be if a parent were to modify and alter their child by forcing them to undergo a facial piercing.

"People were outraged & rightfully so. Then the photo became the focus, was it real or was it Photoshopped?

The reasons for circumcision are varied but are often religious or cultural (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"Then, as the post was shared, people began to realise it was about children's right to physical integrity.

"Altering a child's body simply for aesthetic reasons is wrong … so why are ear piercings and genital cutting so popular?"