A bit about Cleft Lip and Palate

Vanessa was unplanned. There, I said it. Do I regret getting pregnant? No. I will never regret this wonderful little girl. I am frustrated by all of the things we as a family will go through. But before I really start going into detail, I want to explain a little bit about Cleft lips and palates.

CLCP defects do not run in my family. It is a chromosomal abnormality that my immediate family has no history of. CLCP defect occurs in about 1 of every 600 children, even here in the USA. This is a much more common birth defect than I realized. They are still working to figure out exact causes.

Studies have indicated that Folic Acid has to do with CLCP occurrence. I was taking a multi-vitamin, so I "should" have been receiving enough Folic Acid in my diet to prevent CLCP defect. The CLCP birth defect occurs very early in Pregnancy, during the first 3-5 weeks, before most women are aware they are pregnant.  There is also a debate going right now as to weather or not anti-depressants cause CLCP birth defects.

 I am sure everyone has seen the advertisements on TV about the class action law suits. I was taking Zoloft and Abilify for Depression and Anxiety when I found out I was pregnant. The day I found out I was pregnant, I stopped taking Abilify. My Psychiatrist indicated that Zoloft would be safe for the first 2 trimesters but Abilify was not safe. I chose to discontinue Zoloft as well a few weeks later. I weaned myself off that medication over the course of three weeks, taking my last dose at approx. 10 weeks along.

With all that in mind, I asked several different specialist doctors if my anti-depressants could have caused this. The over all response has been, and I quote...

"More likely it was caused by something in the environment."

 I cannot think of a more evasive answer. Wouldn't medications in my system count as "environment?"  I am sure I will be talking more about this in later posts. Many people are telling me to speak with a lawyer, even with doctors all saying, "no, the medication may not be the cause."