My youngest nephew, Luke (the handsome little devil in my cover picture) was born in September 2020.

It was expected from my sister's 20-week scan that he would be born with some form of cleft (lip, palate or both) however the severity would be unknown until he was actually born.

The entire family were preparing for the arrival of little Luke aware of issues to come. My sister and her husband had met the cleft team, been given special bottles to help with feeding, had countless additional scans, met the plastic surgeon that would perform his repair surgery and been made aware of a timeline of events likely to take them through to adulthood.

What some people dismiss as 'fixable' or 'just aesthetic' is something much more complex. Children with clefts are more likely to have issues with their hearing, their teeth, their speech etc. 

If you are a parent, think about the time you accidentally drew blood when cutting your baby's nails. You probably cried more than them, right? Now, imagine having to hand your baby to a surgeon at 3 months of age. Regardless of whether it is 'fixable', there is much more trauma behind a diagnosis like this than aesthetics and much support needed for the parents, children and wider families. 

When Luke was born, he was lucky to not have any form of cleft (false positives almost never happen) but our family are now very aware of the effects that this diagnosis can have and would like to support the amazing work of CLAPA