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The day Heléna’s son was born and diagnosed with a cleft palate changed her life. She had no idea what a cleft lip and palate was, and as she progressed on *the cleft journey she realised this is common of most people. She was overwhelmed and it took time to process what the diagnosis meant and what the future held for her baby boy, Joel. She had to grieve for the idea she had about her first child and she had to embrace the reality that involved her new born needing plastic surgery when he was 6 months old and having to feed him with a special needs bottle. She realised that other parents were experiencing similar emotions and co-founded a South African cleft lip and palate parent support group called Cleft Friends. Through her work in Cleft Friends her team and her have helped more than 1,000 parents and children affected by cleft, trained 70 volunteer support parents and peers, pioneered an innovative and sustainable model nationally and compiled a parent guide that details *the cleft journey from a parents perspective.