The arrival of a new baby should be a wonderful and exciting time for new parents, grandparents, relatives and friends. Imagine the devastation of learning that your child is born with a craniofacial difference. What should be a joyful time is suddenly a time of confusion and concern for your child's future. Unfortunately, people are often judged by their appearance.

My name is Erin McCall-Goldie and I am the proud mother of a beautiful and vibrant little boy. During my pregnancy my husband and I, like most expectant parents were eagerly anticipating the birth of our first child. I was in excellent health and had wonderful prenatal care. Each ultrasound image would be proudly displayed on our refrigerator; to me I already had the perfect "Gerber Baby"!

In my 26th week of pregnancy I needed to have a Level II Ultrasound to determine the size of my baby. During the exam, an abnormality was discovered. My doctor explained that our baby would be born with a Unilateral Cleft Lip. My recollection of a cleft lip was that physically the mouth and nose area was deformed and I had a terrible picture in my mind. My dreams of a perfect Gerber Baby was shattered.

Cleft lips and cleft palates are a type of craniofacial condition where the two sides of the face do not completely fuse together as a whole. Clefts will occur, 1 in 500 pregnancies, and is number 4 on the top 10 birth defects; many children will have their first surgery at approximately 3 months of age and continue into their adult life. Breathing, eating, speech and development can also be affected with this condition. Statistically more than 100,000 babies are born with facial birth defects and over 500,000 people acquire a facial disfigurement as a result of trauma, disease or fire. Researchers do not know what causes cleft lips and cleft palates, it can be linked to genetics, however, isolated cases, still can not be explained.

During my quest for information on cleft lips and palates, I was surprised to learn that the community had many misconceptions of this condition. In conjunction to the physical attributes, the emotional trauma can be just as devastating. When informed prenatal, it is impossible to image this condition until your baby is born and you are holding your baby in your arms. Acceptance is another important issue, how will my child cope with the psychological impact of today society, because his face may look different from no fault of his own. When a stranger at a local mall approaches and asked what I did wrong for my child to look that way that can be a traumatic experience for a new mother.

Since my experience with this craniofacial condition and my way of accepting this challenge in life, I have organized a 501 (c3) children's nonprofit organization, F.A.C.E. (Families Advancing Craniofacial Excellence). This organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children craniofacial differences. Our goal is to provide information relating to craniofacial conditions, emotional support system for craniofacial children and their families and provide education to the community with the hope of bridging the gap of misconceptions relating to craniofacial conditions.

F.A.C.E. Believes that every child deserves a smile and through education, support and fund-raising events we will be able to achieve this goal.

Sincerely,

Erin McCall-Goldie
President/Founder F.A.C.E.

This website is dedicated to my son Connor, who is the inspiration for this organization and his smile can put life into perspective!