Born with, Still have

[Angela]

So I was sitting here this night and decided to look up some
information on Cleft Lips & Palates. I'm not really sure why,
I know about them. But I'm glad I found this place.



I was born with some kind of cleft lip/palate, I'm not quiet
sure about the palate part. My mom has told me before that I had
a surgury to fix it when I was very young. Unfortunatly, it
didn't succed very well (I fell down when i was learning to walk,
and, well, it split right open).



So here I am, 17, 18 on May 29th. My mom a doctor and I were
planning that I'd have a surgury last summer, but it never
happened. (Am I destined to be like this? *S*)



Maybe you're thinking this Angela will have a point to
posting here. . . Well, I don't think I do.



But I was wondering about genetics. I was wondering about how
many children born like this actully have the correction surgury.
I've never met anyone else my age, or even seen a baby myself
with a cleft lip/palate, and obviously strangers must think the
same thing.



Of all the beautiful people out there, it's the ones who are
loved by their mothers.



-Angela (thefreak99@gurlmail.com)

[cullymor@bitstorm.net]

{{{{{{{{{Angela

[Mom with son with cleft l]

You are a very beautiful person. You have been given this
birth defect to make you and those around you better people. I
know that by having my son born with this it has changed me in
the since that I am more compashanate to others. I have always
loved people but know I love people even more. My son's birth
defect has made me a better person and him as well. You need to
hold your head up and say I am a beautiful person. God made you
and God doesn't make anyone ugly. He has a plan for you, you need
to look to him for that plan. Please feel free to e mail me if
you want. queensheets@netzero.net You are beautiful because you
are God's child

[daizy_1212@yahoo.com]

I'm 26 yrs old and as well have cleft lip/palate. It is hard,
especially those teen years. I understand where your coming from,
been there done that - still doing that. I've come a long way
these past few years, accepting myself and liking who I am as a
whole. As far as surgery, you always have the option to have
more, it's your choice. May I ask, did you have the surgery you
talked of, or why you did not? Speaking from my own opinion, it's
hard to beleive someone who hasn't gone through this for
themselves. They don't know what it's like or how it feels. I
understand where parents of clefts are coming from, but they
won't be able to understand the whole aspect of it all. I never
told my parents everything I went through because I didn't want
them to feel guilty or feel sorry for me. So a hint of advice to
all parents, make sure you talk to your children through-out all
ages, especially pre-teens and teen years (those were the hardest
for me). Tell them everything, surgeries they have had, whats to
be expected, how to approach the subject when it comes up from
strangers or people who stare. If you don't talk about it, your
children may think you are trying to hide it or be ashamed of it.
Anyway, now that I've gone totally off course here, sorry. If you
need to talk, or have questions, be sure and email me. I'll do my
best to help you out. Stacy

[Calvero]

Hey Angela! I'm 26 and was born with a cleft lip and cleft
palate. I had my lip and palate fixed when I was a few months old
and haven't had a problem with it, even as I grew up. It's
possible that your doctor didn't do as good as a job as others.



Cleft lip and cleft palate is fairly common...one of the most
common types of facial birth defects (I don't like calling it a
defect though...sounds too negative). Most important is having a
good backup support (such as your family and friends) and
positive self-esteem (which is not the easiest thing to have, any
other cleft can tell you that!!).



If you want to see what a cleft looks like, there's a whole
bunch of baby pictures at <a href="http://widesmiles.org"> <a
href="http://www.widesmiles.org">http://www.widesmiles.org</a> </a>
. That'll keep you busy for a while







And you're welcome to visit my website where I tell what it's
been like growing up cleft. It's located at <a
href="http://members.tripod.com/~Calvero/cleft/"> <a
href="http://members.tripod.com/~Calvero/cleft/">http://members.tripod.com/~Calvero/cleft/</a>
</a> . No pictures there yet.



And BTW, HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY!!



Calvero Born to be Cleft <a
href="http://members.tripod.com/~Calvero/cleft/"> <a
href="http://members.tripod.com/~Calvero/cleft/">http://members.tripod.com/~Calvero/cleft/</a>
</a>