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Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects. This means they happen while a baby is developing. Normally, the mouth and nose of a baby develop between the first 6 and 12 weeks of growth inside the mother. In some babies, parts of the lips and roof of the mouth don't grow together.
If a syndrome is involved, the chances of passing on a cleft is all down to the heritability of the syndrome, which in some cases can be as high as 50%. An isolated cleft palate (where the lip is not affected) is believed to have a different cause to cleft lip and palate. So a family affected by cleft palate (but not cleft lip) may only be likely to pass on cleft palate.