Mom aims to erase cleft palate stigma
Son’s surgery improved his life
After giving birth to three children with facial deformities, a Gauteng mother is determined to inspire others with her heart-wrenching story.
Dorcas Thabethe, 37, is among the parents of 17 children who are expected to undergo surgery this week at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital as part of the Smile Week initiative.
This year marks 18 years since the Smile Foundation formed a partnership with hospitals to assist children in need of surgery for cleft lip and cleft palate repairs.
Thabethe’s 15-month-old son Malusi was born with a cleft palate, a condition where a child is born with an opening in the roof of the mouth.
But this is not her first encounter with the condition.
Her first child – who was born with the condition – died of pneumonia at nine-months old in October 2000.
In 2002, her second child was also born with the same condition.
Thabethe said her daughter, now 16-years-old, had to undergo multiple surgeries which changed her life for the better.
Before the surgeries the teenager experienced a lot of emotional distress.
“Her nose was flat and the children at school would laugh at her. They would tell her that she is ugly,” she said.
She said she was relieved when her other daughter, who was born in 2010, did not have the deformity, but the condition hit her family again when Malusi was born in 2016.
Thabethe said her husband’s relatives persuaded him to leave her.
“They questioned why I kept giving birth to children with a cleft palate, so he left me for another woman. They said I was bewitched,” she said.
Thabethe said she was looking forward to Malusi’s second surgery.
She said one of the challenging things is learning to feed your child properly.
“I also used to get scared that my children would die because I lost the first one,” Thabethe said.
She said speaking openly about the condition was very important to her.
“I want other women to know that cleft palate is not a curse. It is a genetic thing,” Thabethe said.
Vumile Shabangu and Thandiwe Mthembu were also at the hospital waiting for their two-year-old son Tshenolo who was in theatre for his third surgery.
“I’m happy because this is his last surgery. He responded very well to the first two operations,” Mthembu said.
Smile Foundation chairman Marc Lubner said they were looking forward to creating social clubs to support the children and help them integrate into society.
Lubner said most of the children felt safe and accepted at the hospital, but battled with acceptance in their communities.
Throughout the years, the partnerships with 10 hospitals have resulted in 2 800 children receiving surgery, while the Dis-Chem Foundation also threw its weight behind the initiative.