It was during her pregnancy that the mother of Brazilian model and makeup artist Raiza Bernardo Barbosa, from Sao Roque in Sao Paulo, Brazil, discovered that her daughter would be born with a cleft lip and palate, a feature formerly known as a cleft lip.
Without knowing exactly what malformation it was, the woman was referred to the Craniofacial Anomalies Rehabilitation Hospital of the University of Sao Paulo (HRAC-USP), in Bauru, where Raiza, who is now 26 years old, continues in rehabilitation and treatment until the present day.
“My diagnosis was a surprise,” recalls the Brazilian model.
“My mother did not know what it was and there was no case of cleft lip and palate in my family. At that time there was no internet, the information was scarce, and my mother told me that she had to look for the information manually, talking to people and with doctors”, she added.
At 8 months, Raiza underwent her first operation to correct her lip.
In total, she has already been operated on 4 times in which she received a lip graft, closed the cleft lip and palate, and repaired the gum malformation.
Raiza’s cleft is one-sided, affecting the nose and mouth on the left side of the face. There are still 2 other surgeries to be performed.
“I also put an internal device in my left ear since due to the malformation I suffered from hearing loss. To finish my treatment, I still have to undergo surgery to repair my nose and another to dislocate my jaw”, adds Raiza.
It has been more than 2 decades of treatment and follow-up with a multidisciplinary team made up of various specialists such as speech therapists, dentists, ear, nose and throat specialists, psychologists and plastic surgeons.
prejudices
Raiza says that surgical procedures and rehabilitation were never a problem. However, dealing with people’s stares and prejudices was something that made her try to hide from the world for a long time.
According to her, adolescence was the worst stage.
Because she was bullied, she tried to cover her scar and correct the blemishes caused by her cleft lip and palate with makeup, and even avoided speaking so the other students wouldn’t make jokes with her voice, which had a nasal tone due to the malformation. .
“My childhood was very calm, I played, I smiled, I didn’t understand the situation very much and, for me, everything was normal,” he recalled.
“It was in adolescence that I learned about prejudices. Going to school was very difficult because I wanted to fit in with the other students, but I couldn’t always do it, so I avoided going out, talking and I had a psychological block in which I never talked about my fissure, the subject hurt me a lot”, he says.
Exposure on social networks
It was at the age of 21 that the makeup artist says she started to accept it again and then she decided to start talking about it on social media.
In addition to his personal profile, he created the page BelezaFissured on Instagram, dedicated entirely to the subject. In Spanish it translates as fissured beauty.
On social media, the makeup artist produces content about self-esteem, female empowerment, and addresses the issue of unrealistic beauty standards imposed by society in general.
The majority of his followers, around 80%, are people with cleft lips and palates, and Raiza has become an activist for the cause.
“Today the cleft, for me, is a purpose. As a teenager, I never had a person with a cleft lip to be inspired by, so I had to be my own inspiration. For this reason, I seek to talk about the subject by showing the difficulties and also that it is possible to have a normal life, ”she says.
And it was precisely through social networks that Raiza was gaining space and also began to give lectures on the subject.
During a social action event to which she attended as a guest, she met model Isabel Hickman, who has a son who was born with the cleft.
It was from that meeting that the possibility of being the first woman with this condition to carry out a photographic report for the Portuguese magazine Vogue arose.
After the photos, published in the December issue, several doors were opened for Raiza, who received invitations from makeup brands to appear in ads, mainly for lipstick.
“Representing the cause, for me, has been a legacy. We have to provide more information on the subject, there is still a great need for these people. It is necessary to demystify the issue, provide the truth and not idealize the challenges”, he concludes.
What is cleft lip and palate?
Cleft lip and palate are the most common craniofacial malformations at birth, and while statistics vary geographically, it typically affects one in 700 to 1,000 babies worldwide.
During pregnancy, defects in the formation of the face can occur, leading to the appearance of a cleft lip (open lip) and cleft palate (an opening in the roof of the mouth).
Among doctors, there is general talk of two types of fissures -there are several subcategories- and the distinction between them is linked to the factors that lead to their appearance.
One of them is the non-syndromic fissures -more frequent, with 70% of the registered cases- that have an origin with interactions between external and genetic factors.
The best-known external factors that constitute a risk are alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and some medications such as corticosteroids and anticonvulsants, when used by the mother in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Syndromic clefts can be caused by genetic mutations and chromosomal abnormalities.
How is it treated?
Treatment of cleft lip and palate is complex, involves a multidisciplinary team, and lasts most of the patient’s life.
It is recommended that nasal reformers and intraoral functional orthopedic devices be fitted, when necessary, in the first months of life, followed by cheiloplasty surgery (to close the lip) between 3 and 6 months of age.
“Follow-up should begin during pregnancy because these children will have some difficulty feeding, especially in the case of wider clefts, and depending on the extent, it can compromise breastfeeding and feeding this baby,” explains Dr. Cristiano Tonello. , department head at HRAC-USP, a reference in the treatment of cleft lip and palate in Brazil.
At approximately 18 months, the palatoplasty (to close the palate) is performed and, at approximately 7 to 12 years of age, the bone graft is taken from the iliac crest of the pelvis and placed to close the alveolar bone. (bone under the gums). This procedure can also be done in the adult phase.
It may interest you:
* She was looking for food in the garbage and ended up becoming a supermodel
* She was abandoned as a baby in an orphanage for being albino and became a Vogue model
* This is Karen Vega, the first Oaxacan model to appear on the cover of Vogue
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC News World. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss out on our best content.
Do you already know our YouTube channel? Subscribe!