But we re still forced to turn away two out of three who need our help, Magee says. Clefts and More Young children with cleft lips are our first priority, says Jan Lalonde. They are the most visually obvious and take only about 45 minutes to surgically correct. Cleft palates, which take about two hours, come next. If there s time left, the team operates on children with other deformities, such as facial cancers and burns.
Clefts are openings that occur when the developing neural tube doesn t close correctly.
One of 500 children is born with clefts in developing countries. Often considered cursed, many of these children are social outcasts and hidden away. These birth defects aren t limited to developing countries. In the United States, one of 800 children is afflicted. The causes are both genetic and environmental, Magee notes.