Causes of cleft

Even though cleft lips and palates are the most common human birth defects doctors are still not sure what actually causes them. There is no single reason for a cleft. Rather, there are genetic and environmental factors that make it more likely that a child is born with a cleft:

• Parents or other family members have cleft (and other genetic reasons),
• Consanguineous marriages (children born from a couple who are close relatives),
• Vitamin deficiency during pregnancy, for example because the mother cannot afford healthy foods
• Poor quality of air or water in the living environment (pollution),
• Living at high altitudes in the mountains (thin air).

Many people still believe that cleft is given by god as a punishment, or that it is related to lunar or solar eclipses. This is not true and completely absurd. No person can be made responsible for the deformity.