Pussycat Dolls star Carmit Bachar 'terrified' her daughter would be born with a cleft palate

msn.com:

Carmit Bachar was "terrified" her daughter would be born with a cleft palate. The former Pussycat Dolls star, 48, was born with the birth defect that leaves the two plates of the skull that form the hard palate not completely joined and was worried that her 11-year-old daughter Keala Rose - who she has with husband Kevin Whitaker - would be born with the same condition.

She said: "Most people don't know that I was born with a birth defect. It's actually the third most common birth defect, cleft lip, and cleft palate and growing up I had numerous corrective surgeries and spent a lot of time in the hospital and spent a lot of time being ridiculed as a child.

Being born with a cleft lip and cleft palate definitely leaves you feeling insecure. One of my biggest fears was when I had my daughter and I was terrified that she was going to be born with the same thing and go through what I went through.

That is the last thing I wanted to experience. " The 'Don't Cha' hitmaker couldn't recall how many operations she had undergone to correct the facial defect as a child and was "very scared" that her daughter - who was not born with the condition - would be subject to the same level of childhood bullying she had endured but has to takes comfort in that she has been called an "inspiration" by fans.