A mother who was told she was “cruel” for having her son after he was born with a rare and severe cleft lip has insisted it has never stopped him.
Zac Coates, now 18, was born with Tessier cleft lip and palate, a condition caused by facial tissues not joining together properly during development.
It left Zac with a severe facial disfigurement on the side of his vehicle and no eyelid, leaving him blind in his right eye.
Mother Joanne Lythgoe-Frank, 58, a part-time receptionist, who lives in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, was “shocked” when she first saw her son, but raised him to accept his differences.
Zac has undergone 16 surgeries to help restructure his face and is now a happy, healthy 18-year-old who hopes to go to university to study film production in September.
Zac Coates, now 18, was born with Tessier cleft lip and palate, a condition caused by facial tissues not joining together properly during development. In the photo, mother Joanne with her son Zac when he was born.
Zac, who lived in Cyprus for 17 years, has had to deal with looks and comments such as being called a “monster”, but he hasn’t let his difference stop him.
Joanne, at 22 weeks pregnant, was told her baby had a cleft anomaly and was asked if she wanted to have an abortion. She said: “That was never an option for me.”
Recalling Zac’s birth, Joanne said: “My initial reaction was shock at the magnitude of it. It was different from what she expected: much more serious.
‘I have never hidden Zac to be an overprotective mother. I tried to instill in Zac: “you are different, but accept it and be proud of your differences.” He has turned him into a self-confident young man.
‘On TikTok they told me how cruel I am as a mother because I let my son be born. Zac lives a normal life. He is polite, confident, his differences have not hindered him in life.
Joanne, originally from Manchester, was living in Cyprus when she became pregnant with her second child, Zac.
Joanne began to have high blood pressure and developed severe preeclampsia at 24 weeks.
She was rushed in for an emergency C-section and Zac was born on February 24, 2006, weighing 1 pound, 5 ounces.
It left Zac (pictured as a child) with a severe facial disfigurement on the side of his vehicle and no eyelid, leaving him blind in his right eye.
Mother Joanne Lythgoe-Frank, 58, a part-time receptionist, who lives in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, was “shocked” when she first saw her son, but raised him to accept his differences.
Zac (pictured as a baby) underwent 16 surgeries to help restructure his face and is now a happy, healthy 18-year-old looking forward to going to university to study film production in September.
Joanne said: “I remember being told ‘your little one isn’t going to survive, he’s in trouble.’ Maybe it’s better that he doesn’t.”
“I returned hours later and they took me to see him. Zac’s face was all bandaged. It was considered something that is hidden in Cyprus.
Joanne was told Zac had a 20 per cent chance of survival and she didn’t see her little boy properly until she was able to fly him over the UK two weeks later. There he was diagnosed and Joanne was able to hug him for the first time.
She said: ‘I didn’t see him without bandages until I returned to the UK. They offered me to hug him. My instincts told me I was about to die. They took it down from my bra and it was there for hours.’
Zac was discharged after six months in the hospital, but had his first surgeries at nine months to repair his palate and lip.
Since then he has been going back and forth to the UK to undergo further surgery to reconstruct his face.
He recently underwent surgery in October 2023 to reconstruct his cheek using bone from his skull.
Zac (pictured after his birth), who lived in Cyprus for 17 years, has had to deal with stares and comments such as being called a “monster” but he hasn’t let his difference stop him.
Joanne, originally from Manchester, was living in Cyprus when she became pregnant with her second child, Zac.
Zac will continue to have more surgeries but he will choose what he wants to do now that he is 18 years old.
Joanne has never hidden Zac or shied away from their differences. She said: ‘It would have been very easy to hide a child for protection reasons. He was very determined not to do that.”
Zac has never been bullied and deals with the stares and comments the best way he can.
Joanne said: ‘The first time he went to school he didn’t even want us there; I was completely sure. He came home and said a girl had come running and called him a monster. He grimaced, blew a raspberry and said, “I’m a monster.”
Joanne told the school and shared a book they could read with their classmates to help them understand Zac’s difference.
She said: ‘We never had any problems after that. I worried for years: Are they going to harass him? But bullying has never been on our radar. He has never shied away.
“We once walked into a local restaurant in Cyprus and everyone went silent when they saw Zac walk in. It’s human nature to look, but then look away and not be rude.”
Zac and Joanne returned to the UK permanently last year.
Joanne said: ‘He’s just started learning to play the guitar. He wants to be in a rock band. He wants to dedicate himself to film production. He’s just a typical teenager.
Zac recently walked his mother down the aisle when she married her partner of five years James Frank, 58, an aeronautical engineer, in April 2024.
Joanne said: ‘He made a lovely speech. Accept your differences. I tell him “you are unique. Use it to your advantage.”
Zac said: ‘I’ve always been a pretty confident and outgoing person. If you hug yourself, that will help you.
‘By neglecting who you are, it makes you sad. I would say that trust does not arise by itself. You earn it over time.’