I just came across a blog written by a transsexual woman. She wrote a very good post regarding the catholic churches judgments regarding transsexuals. Normally I don’t comment on blog of people I don’t know unless I’m going to post words of encouragement. But I was a little upset about one of this woman’s comments. She stated that a cleft is mainly psychological. Granted she did say arguably, but the tone is basically that those affected by clefts have surgery to look better…to fit in to society. And that is just not the case.

I tried to comment to express my disappointment in her comments without trying to offend her. After all it’s her blog. She can write whatever she wants to.

This is what I wrote:

I don’t want to take away from your point at all. You make some very good points regarding transsexual surgery. It irritates me when people try to use their religion as a reason for bigotry. And I stand behind you for calling them out. I am not a transsexual so I have no clue what kind of inner turmoil a transsexual has. Nor can I identify with the reasons that a person would want to switch genders. However, I do recognize that for those that are suffering through it, it is much more than a psychological issue.

However, I’m a little upset regarding your comment “I continue to use the example of a hair-lip or a cleft palate where the only “defect” is arguably psychological — the desire of a person afflicted to have it “corrected” so that they better fit in society.”

I stumbled on to your website when I did a search for “cleft lip.” I am the mother of a child affected by cleft lip and I am a cleft lip and palate advocate in my area.

First, the term “hair-lip” is now considered to be a derogatory term. I know our society is turning in to such a senstive society where short people have become height-challenged and things are now politically incorrect. But as somebody who is passionate about your cause and making sure that others are informed about your ailment, I’m sure you can identify with the sensitivity of deragotory terms regarding another ailment.

Second, yes some cleft patients have surgery just to look better. But for the majority of cleft kids, it’s much more then appearances. Cleft kids have a very difficult time sucking on the nipple of a breast or a bottle. Many kids with cleft lips have deformaties with their nose making it difficult for them to breath. Some children are missing teeth or their teeth are not aligned correctly which causes jaw pain and often makes it difficult for the child to chew.

And that’s just cleft lip kids. Cleft palate kids have many other problems. Difficulty speaking and breathing. Difficulty swallowing.

A cleft is much more than a psychological issue that needs to be corrected so the child can fit in to society.

I apologize if I have misinterpreted your comments or if I have offended you, but I felt the need to advocate for cleft kids.

Thanks,
Christine

Do you think that sounds alright? Or should I have just kept my damn nose out of it?

This entry was posted on Friday, October 28th, 2005 at 12:17 am and is filed under A [cleft] lip divided, In my humble opinion. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.