31-year-old Abdullah had his first cleft operation at 2 years when his palate was repaired. And it wasn’t until he was 20 that he was able to have his lip repaired. Unable to afford any further treatment, Abdullah has now waited 10 years for what he hopes would be his final surgery by AfS. Abdullah has a problem with liquid coming out of his nose when he drinks; this a relatively common residual effect of his prior surgery.
At his side, 4-year-old Jasmine just like both of her parents, also has cleft. Dr. Tántri said their particular kind of cleft was genetic and usually could not be avoided.

Luckily Jasmine has not started getting bullied yet, but she does always point to her lip in the mirror and ask her Dad why she is different. We were unable to operate on Abdullah because the expected results, due to his age, would not be significant enough to warrant the risk of surgery. However disappointed he may have been to learn this, he did not let on because he was elated to know we could help his daughter and make sure she would never have to suffer the way he did with bullying and ridicule. We are only too happy to take Jasmine into our arms and give her the best medical care possible.