The first thing you need to know is that you most likely did not cause your child's cleft. The cleft formed in the first 4 to 8 weeks of your pregnancy, before you probably even knew that you were pregnant.

If you are anxious about the cause,
you can schedule an appointment with a Genetic Counselor.
They will:

• Offer Reasurance
• Try To Determine The Cause
• Try To Figure Out The Odds Of Reoccurance
• Try To Predict Possibility Of Occurancce For Older And Other Siblings
  (When they have children)

1) Genetics - DNA plays a large role in clefts.
(As in our case, which raised our odds to 1 in 25 of having a baby with a cleft.)



2)Some Drugs Taken During Pregnancy - Especially drugs related to the controlling of epileptic seizures.



3)Smoking During Pregnancy - This greatly increases your chances of a cleft.



4)Certain Ethnic Groups - Especially anyone of Asian background.



Lack Of Folic Acid - Folic Acid is found in Orange Juice. It is now thought that a lack of folic acid can contribute to a cleft. It is a good preventative measure, if possible, to begin consuming folic acid several months before you become pregnant.



So now you are saying to yourself, but I did what I should.
I didn't smoke or take drugs, why did this happen?
The answer is that you might never know.
It just happened.
But it will not desroy your child's life or yours.
You will both be able to cope and continue.