ABU DHABI // A parent is never prepared to see their child born with a cleft palate and lip, says a Syrian father who was faced that very situation.
M A, a mechanical engineer, was told six months into his wife’s pregnancy that his son would be born with the condition.
“You can’t really prepared for it,” he says. “We thought we were, and even though my wife is a nurse and had cared for children with cleft palates, it was traumatic for us.”
Their son was born with a hole that extended from his upper lip to the base of his nose. While children can be born with either a cleft palate or cleft lip, their baby was born with both.
“When I first saw my baby, I was relieved. It was the pregnancy that was hard – when I was first told that the ultrasound showed a cleft in his lips, that was harsh. I expected the worst and kept worrying throughout my pregnancy,” his wife says.
Although she has dealt with many babies with cleft palates and lips, she felt “it is always different when it’s your first-born child. This is also the first case in both sides of the family, but I am grateful that its nothing worse”.
The couple want their son, who is now two months old, to have surgery but they cannot afford the fees.
A private medical centre informed them that he needed two operations. The first is to repair the lip, nose and the soft palate and then, in two years, another is needed to fix his hard palate.
The first surgery alone would cost Dh60,000, the parents say.
“The operation is Dh45,000. With the anaesthetic and hospital stay, costs would increase to Dh60,000,” says the father.
“It’s cheaper in Syria, I know, but it’s also not safe. We live very far from the city and if we do make it safely to the hospital, there are power cuts, no medical supplies and always the fear of being attacked by a missile or an explosion nearby.”
He has approached many charities to help pay for the operation but has been unsuccessful.
“There are long waiting lists and one charity said that they will respond to us before six months but they cannot help us any time soon with the cost of the operation because they are under pressure,” the father says.
His son must have his first surgery in two months.
“Doctors tell us that he should have his operation in March, when he is about four months, to prevent speech and hearing problems later on,” M A says.
According to the UAE website of the children’s charity Operation Smile, “every three minutes a child somewhere in the world is born with a cleft. One in 10 will die before their first birthday. Many of the children who survive live their lives in shame, hiding their faces because of this tragic deformity. Operation Smile was founded on the belief that no child should suffer or die because of a facial deformity”.
Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of Zakat and Social Services at Dar Al Ber Society, says: “Cleft palates and lips are a facial deformity that can be easily repaired and will leave no scars if the surgery is performed early.
“Charities perform these surgeries for free but, because of the high cost of the operation and the high number of children born with this condition, they have long waiting lists. We would hope the community can cover the cost of this operation.”
salnuwais@thenational.ae
