Parents gift son a dog with a cleft lip and he finally felt seen: 'It looks like him'

Connection plays a crucial part in our social upbringing. These societal bonds are essential for our cognitive development and emotional well-being. However, not everyone has the same way of forming them. Each individual brings in their personality and needs when forming a connection either with humans or animals. In search of a pure connection, Liam has been asking his parents for years to find him a dog that has the same craniofacial anomaly as his. And, in this success story, Liam finally gets one. His mother, who goes by @thestorybehindtwosmiles on Instagram, shared this in a very cute video. 

His “childhood dream came true” when his mother brought a surprise in a red collar. “The reaction everyone has been waiting for!! My son was born with a cleft lip and palate. For years, he’s been asking to get a puppy with a cleft lip so “it looks like him.” Thursday, we made his childhood dream come true,” shared his mother in the caption of the video. Liam and her sister, Brynlee, were stunned to see their new friend and couldn’t control their feelings. They changed their clothes and wore new ones in red, to match their new friend's collar, and then hugged and kissed him like they had another sibling. "Drive 8 hours total with me to adopt the sweetest cleft puppy," wrote Liam's mom in another video she shared, which got 197k views. 

Humans and dogs have a lot more similarities than one may think. Apart from being mammals like us and exhibiting critical human emotions like love and jealousy, though, quite explicitly. They even share the same bodily functions and dysfunctions. One of them is cleft lip, which is a craniofacial anomaly occurring in both humans and dogs that hinders their tissues' ability to form the upper lip. For both, it is their genetics and environmental factors that control the growth of the tissue. But the treatment in dogs lags. NIH Research says that detailed radiological anatomical studies are required to plan medical treatment. And if not fed properly, the dogs can die.

For humans, having a cleft lip itself is not fatal, and in the case of children, it is a repairable anomaly, and they are often presumed to have normal health and survival in adulthood. However, according to the study titled, Long term follow up study of survival associated with cleft lip and palate at birth, by the National Library of Medicine, “adults with cleft lip and palate have an increased incidence of structural brain anomalies, including major differences in the sizes of the cerebrum and cerebellum associated with mild cognitive impairments.”

Having disabilities and diseases as common ground between humans and dogs makes these canines more than a man’s best friend. They are simply the best creatures to hang out with, non-judgmental, never complaining, and always loving. Viewers showered their love in the comment section of the video. "Your kids & fur children are so blessed to have such loving & thoughtful parents. Bless you all," shared @kylie.staltari. "Omg I’ve been waiting for the video where they meet. Would you maybe be up for sharing your son’s story?" asked @tills.recovery. "May God bless you and your family for taking into ur family a puppy with a cleft palate… It’s just so precious of a gesture to choose the puppy to live and be a part of your family !!!!! God bless you all," wished@navygrandparent.