Help dads of cleft kids be heros. I've suggested in prior blogs and in my book, Cleft Heart , that mothers of cleft kids are heroic, and being heroines they often get support and praise. But what about fathers? Luckily a recent study of fathers of cleft kids addresses these issues. The following report is from the medical headline/news service. Research psychologist Nicola Stock says fathers need better support to enable them to deal with the challenges of having a child born with … [Read more...]
Cleft lip superstitions, Surgeries.
"Cleft beliefs and surgeries—Then and now," a Guest blog by journalist Jenni Perez Karl Schonborn, the author of “Cleft Heart Chasing Normal,” is not the only person to social stigma due to a cleft. This is because cleft lips are fairly common birth defects, affecting more than 1 in 600 children worldwide (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research). The first documented cleft lip surgery was in China around 390 BC on 18 year old Wey Young-Chi, who would later become a … [Read more...]
Largest cleft lip research effort ever.
The Cleft Collective studies cleft lip and palate. An almost $19 million dollar program promises to have an important, maybe even global impact, on cleft lip and palate understanding and care. In fact, some scientists say this largest ever research program into clefts will bring huge benefit to cleft patients and their families around the world. The program, launched in March 2012, is called The Cleft Collective ( Wouldn't you know the words would be a tad different across the pond? And … [Read more...]
Help promote “Cleft lip and palate Week.”
Special week to boost cleft lip kids' confidence? Americans devote many weeks every year to awareness efforts or consciousness raising re this or that health issue. Why not have a special week for cleft kids. After all, cleft lips and palates are the most common birth defect, after heart defects. Not every cleft kid has a family able to pay for a cleft camp in their state or a gathering somewhere across the country for cleft kids. So, at least a special week, or even a special day, for such … [Read more...]
Older cleft lip kids & adults need Support
Cleft Lip Awareness Week. This is Cleft Awareness Week and one campaign in the U.K. is using the time to highlight the fact that many people affected by cleft lip and palate don't get much support, especially as adults. In Western countries, traditional cleft care normally ends around the age of 18 years. As a result, little is known about the longer-term outcomes of those living with cleft lip and/or palate. This is part of why I wrote Cleft Heart: Chasing Normal: to give people an idea of how … [Read more...]
Moma Mia! A couple of cleft lip beauties.
Move over, Big Mia The whole world thrilled watching the fancy footwork of Mia Hamm as she,Brandi Chastain and others won gold for the American Women's Soccer team in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in the U.S. However, Big Mia (real name Mariel Margaret) may soon have to share the limelight with two other Mia's. Tiny Mia with a Cleft Lip One of them, a tiny Chihuahua named Mia, was born with a cleft lip and palate. Veterinarians wanted to put Mia down, … [Read more...]
Did cleft lip afflicted kid ever attain normalcy?
Is Karl, the "Cleft Lip Wonder," normal? Don't snicker. Bay Area journalist Cathy Dausman wrote the following after interviewing me during a book talk. Spoiler Alert: read Cleft Heart and then return to this article if you don't want your reading experience compromised. '[Is Karl Schonborn normal? Schonborn - debater, visual artist, professor, husband, father and author of the newly published memoir, "Cleft Heart: Chasing Normal" - has journeyed far from the scarred school boy with a … [Read more...]