Hey I'm Marissa. I'm from Perth, Western Australia. I was born with a cleft palate. My cleft was repaired at age 6 months. After surgery I had to be rushed back into surgery because I had a hemorrhage. Due to the massive amount of blood lost with the hemorrhage I had to have an emergency blood transfusion. Growing up I went to speech therapy, psychologists and hearing tests. I had recurrent ear infections and had trouble socialising with others. I was very nervous and self-conscious around people and I barely said anything throughout school. It was only until I left school and went to university that I started embracing who I am and loving my uniqueness. I am cleftproud.