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A Healthy Smile is Just the Beginning®

When Aya was born, her parents were surprised to see her cleft lip. Due to a lack of prenatal screening in underseved areas of the world, many parents do not know that their child has a cleft until the child is born. 

When Aya was three months old, the family traveled from Tripoli to meet our team in Beirut. Aya’s parents were happy when they learned that their daughter was able to undergo surgery for her lip.

One year later, Aya returned to see the team with her parents so that our volunteers could assess her progress. This time Aya brought her new younger sister, Jehan, who was also born with a cleft lip. Research has shown that there is a hereditary component to cleft. If parents have one child born with cleft lip lip and/or palate, then there is a greater chance that other children will be born with a cleft.

After their positive experience with Aya’s surgery and care, her parents felt good about bringing Jehan to see the GSF team. The girls’ mother expressed her appreciation that both of her daughters would now have a new future. She is spreading awareness of cleft lip and palate in her community and telling people to seek treatment as soon as possible.

WATCH AYA’S STORY

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