Adopting a Child with Cleft Lip & Cleft Palate

Should you adopt a child with cleft lip or cleft palate? What is involved with this special need? Host Dawn Davenport interviewed four medical specialists working with children with cleft lip/palate: Dr. Andrea Smith, a dentist specializing in dental and facial prosthetics, clinical director at Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic in Lancaster Pennsylvania, and one of only 350 maxillofacial prosthodontists worldwide; Dr. Thomas Samson, pediatric plastic surgeon at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, co-director of the Penn State Hershey Craniofacial Clinic and the Penn State Hershey Vascular Anomalies Clinic; Abbie Ellis, a feeding specialist at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic; and Maureen Rostolsky, a speech therapist who specializes in working with children with cleft lip and palate at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic.

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What is cleft lip and cleft palate exactly?
What is the difference between cleft lip and cleft palate?
What causes this condition?
Is it usually a stand alone special need or condition or does it come in combination with other special needs or conditions?
How is it corrected?
How many surgeries are usually required?
Is it always fully correctable?
Does the ability to correct cleft lip or cleft palate depend upon the age of the child at adoption?
What are the dental implications of cleft lip/palate?
What age do orthodontics begin?
Is it possible for a child with cleft lip/palate to breastfeed?
Would a supplemental nursing/feeding system help?
Are babies with cleft lip/palate able to suck on a bottle?
What type of bottle is best?
If a baby or toddler with cleft lip/palate has become accustomed to cup feeding, should parents reintroduce the bottle?
If a child or toddler with cleft lip/palate has food coming out of their nose when they eat, is there the potential for harm or infection?
What are the speech implications for cleft lip/palate?
How long do children typically remain in speech therapy?
Where can people who do not live near a specialize cleft clinic find help?
Does insurance cover the treatment of cleft lip/palate?
Does insurance cover the orthodontics?
Does insurance cover the dental implants?