“I Didn’t Want Her to Grow Up Like I Did”

Lynn-Ann paced the hospital hall in Cebu, trying to soothe her 9-month-old baby, Enly. In just a few minutes, Enly will undergo a surgery to repair her cleft lip. Her mom has hope that this operation will change the course of her daughter’s life.

At 29 years old, Lynn-Ann knew what her daughter was about to go through – just 15 years earlier, Lynn-Ann had her cleft lip repaired at an Operation Smile surgical program in the Philippines.

“I knew Operation Smile could help her like they helped me,” she said. “Operation Smile gave me a chance to live and be happy. I gained confidence, I went to school, I am a college graduate. Before I had kids, I was working in quality assurance. Now my baby will have a chance to do all that, too.”

Lynn-Ann brought Enly to the surgical program in Cebu as a baby so that she could get surgery early in life and live a happy childhood, without the taunting that Lynn-Ann herself had endured growing up.

“I want my daughter to be normal, I want her to talk normal. I want her to say ‘mama,’ I want her to go to school. I want her to be a great professional,” said Lynn-Ann. “Now she can do all of those things.”