Ivanna’s Angels

Leticia had been pregnant three times before. But never had she experienced complications quite like this.

At an early ultrasound appointment, the doctor took one look at the image and refused to treat her further. Too high-risk, she said cryptically. In hindsight, Leticia and her husband, Iván, suspect she saw their baby girl’s cleft and wanted no part of it.

At only three months pregnant, Leticia was confined to bedrest due to bleeding. She had to register under her brother’s health insurance, because Iván did not receive benefits through his job as a taxi driver. When she got close to her due date, the doctors induced her weeks ahead of schedule out of fear for her health.

Ivanna was born underweight. With Leticia still under anesthesia post-delivery, Iván was the first to hold her and discover her cleft. Leticia saw it the next day when she awoke — at first, she thought she was still dreaming.

While Ivanna recovered in an incubator, the doctor scolded Leticia and Iván, telling them they were responsible for her condition. The guilt shattered them inside.

Their distress only intensified when, several days after being discharged, Ivanna had to be rushed back to the hospital with dehydration. No one had explained to Leticia and Iván how to feed a cleft-affected baby. Through their tears, they resolved to seek treatment for Ivanna any way they could. But after so many negative experiences, they began to doubt they would ever find it.

Soon after, Ivanna’s Aunt Blanca came to visit. One look at her niece’s condition and she immediately recommended the family visit Contigo Sonreímos, a Smile Train partner located right in their town. Leticia and Iván hesitated. They were still disillusioned from the lack of support they had received at the hospital. But they also understood their little girl needed them. They scheduled an appointment.

Right away, Leticia and Iván noticed something was different at Contigo Sonreímos. The surgeon looked them in the eye and said: “Here, we’re all family.” A little while later, the pediatric dentist described a care plan personalized just for Ivanna. The couple breathed a sigh of relief: Finally, they had found doctors they could trust.

With the right feeding methods in place, Ivanna gained the weight she needed to safely undergo cleft surgery. Even when her first surgery, on her lip, got delayed due to a heart condition, Leticia and Iván stuck to the plan and stayed hopeful. When the day came at last and she emerged safe and sound, they cried with happiness.

Ivanna is now a confident, fun-loving seven-year-old. She received all her comprehensive cleft care at Contigo Sonreímos completely free, including cleft palate surgery and speech therapy. At home, she’s quick to laugh and sing. Her favorite game is “doctor” — she recruits her grandmothers as patients and always insists on checking Leticia’s teeth and listening to her heartbeat.

When Iván reflects on all the people who helped Ivanna in her cleft journey, he speaks of “angels”: Aunt Blanca, who set them on the right path when they felt lost. Ivanna’s older brothers, Fernando and Iván, Jr., who helped with her care at home. Her pre-school teacher, who supported her in her speech therapy. And of course, the staff at Contigo Sonreímos and Smile Train’s donors, who make their work possible.

“Maybe we were destined to go through all this, maybe it was a test,” he shared. “But my daughter has a guardian angel, and today I know it helped her to smile.”