Dad With Cleft Lip Adopts Baby From China With The Same Condition To Help Her Deal With It

A father with cleft lip has adopted a baby girl from China with the same condition so he can help her deal with it.

Brian Pierce, from Atlanta in the US, who had a cleft lip as a baby, hoped to find a child with the condition so that he could pass on his experiences.

“I’ll be able to help her deal with that because I went through it,” he told ABC News. “I’ll be able to say, ‘Look at Daddy, he went through the same thing’.”

He and his wife, Molly had been inspired to adopt from China after meeting an American couple whose 12-year-old was adopted from the said country.

Brian knew that there would be physical complications involved. “In China, you don’t get to adopt a quote-unquote healthy child. They give you a list of conditions you’d accept, it requires a lot of soul-searching. But a cleft lip and palate made a lot of sense,” he said, although he stressed that having a cleft lip doesn’t mean one is unhealthy.

Then, Brian and Molly saw the photo of an adorable then 12-month-old girl with a cleft lip — Hattie — and immediately felt a sense of connection, WCNC reported.

“She smiles with her eyes,” Molly observed.

The couple then worked to adopt little Hattie.

Now, Hattie is four, and has gone through two surgeries, with more to come.

Dr Joseph K. Williams, who performed Hattie’s surgery, was amazed by the connection of Brian and Hattie. “How unique for this pair to share such a special bond, not only as father and daughter but also as two people who have gone through the same experience,” he said.

Coincidentally, Dr Williams’ mentor was the same doctor who performed Brian’s surgery. “This is truly coming full circle in such a beautiful way,” Dr Williams added. “I feel privileged to have played a small part in it.”

Brian had initially hoped that he would help Hattie with any prejudice she experiences since he had his own experiences with teasing – due to the lip scar left by his surgery, but for now at least, Hattie hasn’t been bothered at all.

“Everyone who meets her falls in love with her,” Brian said. “All the other kids like to play with her.”

And she’s inseparable from her five-year-old sister, Curdie.

One in 700 newborns in the US every year are born with a cleft lip.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk