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Marcia's Story
My name is Marcia. I was born in 1957 with a cleft lip. I feel fortunate that my problem consists solely of a moderate scarring deformity between my upper lip and left nostril. However, the cruelty inflicted upon me by children and classmates, and peers, to this day, is devastating. Sometimes it felt that all people saw or cared about was the cleft. My needs, qualities, personality, interests, contributions didn't count for anything. I have a good career (attorney) and am married and have a beautiful little daughter (no cleft). I wouldn't wish a cleft problem of any type on my worst enemy. I hope that this or other organizations will try to provide sensitivity training to the non-cleft population so that people with facial anomalies will not be so terribly devalued by this society that places an inordinate degree of importance on looks. It's difficult enough for these poor little babies and children to cope with surgery and speech therapy. They don't need social abuse on top of the physical challenges. I hope that parents of cleft children believe in showing their children how beautiful and wonderful they are. Thank you for this opportunity.