Our Stories

For adults with clefts, a smile also means fulfilling work with dignity.

He didn’t speak until he was 18. Now, people flock to hear him talk.

A mother’s first-person account.

Elizabeth's family tries to find the cleft surgery she desperately needs, in the middle of a lockdown.

Just when Jeann thought she had found a way to get her daughter with a cleft to a healthy weight, COVID-19 forced the entire island into lockdown.

A boy from India is starving and his parents don't know what to do.

Saraswati's parents tried everything to feed their baby, but no matter what they tried, the milk still spilled out her cleft. She constantly screamed with hunger, and they didn't know how she'd make it. Then a friend told them about Smile Train.

Kamlesh learned to live with his cleft. His three children could not.

Smile Train's partners will travel any distance and scale the highest mountains to provide free care to children in need.

 After getting over the initial shock of having a baby with a cleft, Bao’s family noticed that he struggled to breathe and was unable to breastfeed. They knew he needed help, but didn't think it would ever be possible for him. Then they learned about Smile Train.

Gracee was born with a cleft lip and palate in the Philippines and she was incessantly bullied growing up.