Relationship Between Maternal Ancestry and Incidence of Cleft Palate

Abstract

93 cleft palates were found in 47,153 recorded live births between Jan. 1, 1942, and Jan. 1, 1947. Study of the ancestry in these births indicated that the comparatively high rate of cleft palates in Hawaii is due to the racial composition of the population; the tendency toward production of the cleft palate children is positively correlated with the number and recentness of fusion of color fractions in maternal ancestry; and whatever the actual etiology of cleft palate, it seems to be carried, in some instances at least, as a transmissible genetic factor whose phenotypic expression is augmented as a result of racial blending in the maternal ancestry.