According to the young mother, Sarah, when she was just 6 months pregnant, the doctors told her that her baby had a cleft lip and palate. So, the mother and her partner, Chris, were left devastated after hearing the news. The mother reportedly said: “It is OK to be proud of your baby no matter the circumstances. We wanted to change what ultrasound/newborn/first year pictures on our Facebook/Instagram accounts looked like. We wanted to spread awareness of cleft lips and palates.”
The parents then realized that their son Brody would always be beautiful. In a bid to spread awareness about the condition, they decided to share as many photos of Brody as they could on social media. Despite their hope of normalizing cleft lips and palates, both parents knew that there would be cruel comments. Even though she knew this, the mother was unprepared for what would happen when someone eventually asked about Brody.
According to the mother, when one social media user asked: “What’s wrong with his face?”, she reportedly replied: “I wasn’t prepared to defend my 3-month-old and why he looks ‘different’ from other babies. I decided to educate rather than create a confrontation because that is what I want Brody to do in the future,” she recounted. “I will want him to educate, to be an advocate for younger cleft kids who don’t have their own voice yet.” Hours after the interaction, the mother was at dinner with some of her friends when a waiter delivered what looked like a folded napkin.
She was shocked to find that it was a check for $1,000, with the words, “For the beautiful baby” penned in the memo line. “Tears fell from my eyes immediately and the happiness my heart felt is indescribable,” she said. The parents used the money to cover some of Brody’s medical bills. Brody underwent a lip surgery, his second one. Eating is still a challenge a challenge for Brody, and he relies on a gastrointestinal tube for nutrition. He’ll undergo another surgery when he’s 9 months to a year old to repair his palate. This is how the boy looks like today (SEE PHOTO).
