Additional Siblings

[Mandyh167 @aol.com]

My husband and I have a 5 year old that was born with a bi-laterial cleft lip and palate, we are discussing haveing another child, I know the pecentages of having another cleft child, but would like some actual experiences of how often the second child is born with a cleft or other abnormalties? Please share your experiences.

[Ros]

I have three children, the middle daughter was born with a cleft of the hard and soft palate. The other two children did not have any medical problems. When we went to genetic councelling we were told that any other children we had would have a 4 percent chance of having a cleft. Hope this helps.

[Calvero]

I am 28 and was born with both cleft lip and cleft palate. I am also the oldest of four siblings, and none of them had near as serious problems. A *very ,very* small case of spina bifida in one (you never would guess it though... nothing that prevented everyday things or her amateur running hobby ), another had jaundice (only needed her first few weeks of life in sunlight), and my brother had some form of speech problem, nothing cleft related, but that was corrected with speech classes.


If you remain concerned, go visit a genetic counselor


Good luck in your decision!


Kim,
The Cleft Club <a href="http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thecleftclub">http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thecleftclub</a>

[Anonymous]

Hi there, both my kids - now aged seven and three - had clefts. The eldest was a mil unilateral, fixed with one surgery and with no speech or hearing problems. I didn't consider too strongly at all whether the next would have a cleft, as all the experts said the risk was remote. My youngest had a full bilateral cleft lip and partial cleft palate. Althought that was a shock, and the feeding as you'll know is awkward, I certainly don't in the least regret having her. And many experts say taking folic acid before conception reduces the chances. We have now been told there is a one in 10 chance of another of our children having a cleft. Personally, I feel its an odds on certainty. I don't plan any more kids, but wouldn't be upset if one came along, so obviously I don't have strong anticleft feelings, and neither do the kids.
The only thing that would worry me, was if a third child was facially unscarred, particularly if it was another girl. Would my three year old then become very aware of her own looks?


Good luck with your choices!


Mitchy

[Mark (UK)]

Hi


The only way to get an accurate representation of your "odds" is to see a geneticist. However in the UK the normal course of action is for the mother to take 10 times the normal folic acid dose for 3 months prior and after conception (something I figure is difficult to achieve with accuracy when the average couple take 1 year to conceive! I believe the figure of 4% someone else quoted is a generally accepted figure for follow-on clefts, however it is completely dependant upon your specific situation and the folic acid - see a geneticist! If you're in the UK you should speak to your cleft team who will refer you to their geneticist, I assume it's the same in the States too?




-Mark.
England