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Both ShadowIce and I recall hearing about a cleft palate sometimes extending into the brain, but I can't find anything on this (I swear that it is a really rare, very severe, condition - and that I saw an article or news program about a baby who died from this a few years ago - but I find nothing...).

However I found a few articles about cleft palate and some brain abnormalities:
here and here (might be about the same study)
Also, there was some sort of study done on mice:
here

Usually (it looks like), cleft palate is fixable and only results in looking different and trouble speaking (without corrective surgery).
Well, yes. But pregnant women have so many hormones coursing through their bodies that are already creating bonding feelings with the unborn human (because our babies are so hard to take care of, and take so long to grow up, that if we didn't instinctually want to protect them, we wouldn't have survived as a species). I agree that it would be mean to say such a thing to a woman who had miscarried (just "I'm sorry for your loss" would work, after all).

That doesn't mean that the term "fetus" doesn't apply to late-term unborn humans. Though, of course, "baby" also can apply to unborn humans (as can "child" in the sense of "offspring").

Just because emotional people think of the unborn human they carry as "their baby" or "their child" doesn't mean that everyone should be forced to think that way (personally, I plan when I am pregnant to refer to it as "my fetus" and force everyone else to do so - for my pregnancy - as well *wink*). Though, to be safe, I would suggest calling it whatever she wants, when you are around a pregnant woman. They can be scary. *laughs*
True. I feel that way as well.

On the other hand, I would understand putting an animal to sleep if it needed a very expensive operation and its chances of survival were minimal, or if it were suffering. Likewise, I understand abortions in cases where the unborn human is unlikely to survive long (not in cases like dwarfism), like that poor baby born with no brain and hole in its head.

Yeah, I only included the mice study because I thought it was interesting, and (of course) those mice were made to have cleft palate, to study it better (and maybe someday prevent it or treat it very early!).

I'll agree that cleft palate doesn't seem to usually cause mental retardation, but I also find it interesting that it does seem to be linked to some slight mental issues (in common cases).
Since this woman doesn't exist it is hard to know. But, from the OP, I would assume that she wouldn't like born humans with dwarfism or cleft palate either.
Yes. I just wanted to state that I felt that way on other cases, but that the case is question doesn't meet those requirements.

Wow.

I cannot imagine aborting for a cleft palate or a deformed limb, especially not in the third trimester.

I probably would abort for downs syndrome. Not only do I not feel like I have the ability to raise someone with such a severe disability, I feel that having such a horrible disorder would not make for a good quality of life. I respect that other people feel differently, and am amazed by anyone who raises such children. But, personally, I do not feel that I have the emotional capacity to keep a pregnancy know that the unborn human has downs syndrome, let alone raise the resulting child.

I understand where you are coming from, but I really would not be comfortable raising a child with Downs Syndrome, nor giving birth to one (so much so that I plan to be sterilized before I reach 35 - or whenever it is - when the chances of it raise very quickly). I hope to never have a pregnancy when the unborn human is diagnosed with such, but I really can't see myself keeping such a pregnancy.

I totally have a ton of respect for people who raise Downs Syndrome children (both those who keep pregnancies and especially people who adopt such kids). But, to me, I feel it would be too much to handle.

It doesn't make sense that Cleft Palatte would extend to the brain, it's the failure of the Palatine process of the maxilla to fuse, not just a randomly placed blackhole in your head. Unless there's something that I'm missing in understanding Cleft Palatte itself.

Problems can occur with feeding them though. My cousin Cheryl who was born with Cleft Palatte had to eat with a tube down her throat for the first 6 months of her life (I'm guesstimating I was only like 6 or 7 when she was born so it could have been a year or 3 months time feels a lot different when you're younger. I just remember my Grandmama coming back from a visit and explaining it to me.) but now she's 100% fine (except for a severe allergy to peanuts and the fact she is constantly making up songs and singing to them =P), she doesn't even have a speech problem. Obviously she had surgery to fix it.

I think and it was mentioned before that it may kind of be the other way around. Where brain problems cause cleft palate. I know that my Aunt and Uncle were both tested for neurological disorders (their first child developed with no brain, I don't remember what the condition is called though, Cheryl had cleft palate when she was born and there was another pregnancy that was miscarried, though they also had 2 sons that are perfectly healthy) and it was found that they both had family history of neurological problems or something like that, basically they were people who should never have had kids together. So it may be that there's a problem with a brain which can cause Cleft Palate and not that Cleft Palate can cause problems with the brain.

I'm no expert of course, but it just doesn't make sense to me that bone fusion would effect the brain. I mean the skull isn't fully fused until about 2 years of age and that doesn't directly effect the brain, why would your Palatine Process be any different?

Also, I'm glad there are peanut free options for her as well. I'm not sure if she's as allergic anymore as she used to be, they live in Ontario so I don't get to see those cousins that often. I really hope I never have a child with a peanut allergy! I love peanut butter.