Chloe was born premature at 28 weeks with a cleft lip and palate.
She was a very small baby measuring 12.6 inches and weighing 1.8 lbs.
Due to her prematurity, she spent 116 days in the NICCU
at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Through much prayer and care she is growing strong each day.
Chloe is the first person in our extended family to be affected by cleft lip and palate. However, it never took away the beauty of her smile or the wonder of her smile. While she was beautiful just the way she was born, she is even more beautiful now that her cleft lip and palate are repaired.
Our goal is to provide the financial means for the surgeons of Operation Smile to repair the cleft of the many beautiful children worldwide who do not have access otherwise. We appreciate your interest to join us in this effort.
Chloe
Operation Smile is a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery and related medical care for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.
As one of the most prominent charities for children in the world, Operation Smile works in over 60 countries to heal children’s smiles and bring hope for a better future.
Since 1982, Operation Smile — through the help of dedicated medical volunteers — has provided more than 3.5 million comprehensive patient evaluations and over 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults born with facial deformities. Our work creates a lasting global impact. We train local doctors in developing countries and strengthen healthcare systems so more children in some of the poorest areas in the world can be treated.
Operation
Smile
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects, which occur very early in pregnancy.
A cleft lip is a separation of the two sides of the lip. The separation often includes the bones of the upper jaw and/or upper gum. A cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth in which the two sides of the palate did not fuse, or join together, as the unborn baby was developing.
A child born with a cleft frequently requires several different types of services, e.g., surgery, feeding therapy, speech therapy, dental/orthodontic care, all of which need to be provided in a coordinated manner over a period of years.