Neither Pandemic nor Panic Could Stop Adrielle from Getting His Smile

Abigail lives with her family in Labo, a small city on Luzon, the Philippines’ most populous island. Her son, Adrielle, four, is a Smile Train patient. This is her family’s story in her own words.

My husband and I met through a friend of a cousin. We were 20 years old then. We're currently 25. We have a store selling fruits and other basic commodities.  

Adrielle's name is a combination of our names, Abigail and Ari.  

We had a complete ultrasound at five months old, and a check-up later where they told us that the baby was healthy. We expected no complications.  

I had a difficult time giving birth because he was 3.5 kg [about eight pounds]. It was only afterwards, when we saw him for the first time, that we discovered his cleft. Initially, Ari couldn't believe his condition. He cried for a long time, then he said it was okay and pledged to do whatever it took to support us. My partner is very attentive.  

The midwife helped. She told us about organizations that can help us. A friend of mine had another friend whose child has a cleft, and she suggested we inquire with Smile Train on Facebook.  

We guarded Adrielle like a hawk at first because I couldn’t breastfeed him. He choked every time we tried. Thankfully, we soon found a special bottle just for babies with clefts, but I was still scared.  

We got him a screening for surgery when he was five months old, but it was not under Smile Train. It was then that COVID came to the Philippines, so we had to wait a long time. Eventually, places started to open up again, and we were asked if we were willing to travel to Bicol Medical Center in Naga City, our nearest Smile Train partner. It was nearly three hours away, but we didn’t mind. We would travel to the ends of the earth to get care for our son. When Adrielle was about to be one year old, we had a chat with Dr. Rico Nebres there, and he was at last scheduled for surgery.  

It's funny. I had been so eager for him to get surgery since he was born and so happy once I learned that Smile Train would make it free for us, but when the day finally came, the thought of someone putting my baby to sleep, cutting into him, changing him, was more than I could think about. I got scared and wanted to back out. My mother-in-law, Sheryl, talked me into me to not waiting. She said he needs to have the surgery now or else his problems will only get worse as he grows bigger.

I knew she was right, but I still couldn’t do it. So I gave Adrielle to Sheryl to give to Dr. Nebres. 

When the surgery was over, at first I thought I had made a big mistake. It took him more time to wake up compared to the other kids who had had surgery at around the same time. But then he did wake up, and while he was perfect before the surgery, no words can describe how he looked afterwards.

I was also happy that, in terms of his personality, nothing changed after the surgery.

I hear that other kids are bullied for having a cleft, even for just having little scars after surgery, but the children in our community aren’t like that. They know that Adrielle had a cleft, and they don’t tease him because of it. He is always telling me how much he wants to go to school with his friends.

My advice for other parents who have a baby with a cleft is to have courage. Love your children, they are a blessing. There are many people who will help. You are not alone.

My message for Smile Train donors is that we hope that there will be more people like you. Thank you for supporting children in need without fail.