Carmit Bachar was "terrified" her daughter would be born with a cleft palate.

Carmit Bachar was terrified that her daughter would be born with a cleft palate

Carmit Bachar was terrified that her daughter would be born with a cleft palate

The former Pussycat Dolls star, 48, was born with the birth defect that leaves the two plates of the skull that form the hard palate not completely joined and was worried that her 11-year-old daughter Keala Rose - who she has with husband Kevin Whitaker - would be born with the same condition.

She said: "Most people don't know that I was born with a birth defect. It's actually the third most common birth defect, cleft lip, and cleft palate and growing up I had numerous corrective surgeries and spent a lot of time in the hospital and spent a lot of time being ridiculed as a child. Being born with a cleft lip and cleft palate definitely leaves you feeling insecure. One of my biggest fears was when I had my daughter and I was terrified that she was going to be born with the same thing and go through what I went through. That is the last thing I wanted to experience."

The 'Don't Cha' hitmaker couldn't recall how many operations she had undergone to correct the facial defect as a child and was "very scared" that her daughter - who was not born with the condition - would be subject to the same level of childhood bullying she had endured but has to takes comfort in that she has been called an "inspiration" by fans.

Speaking on UK TV show 'This Morning', she told resident therapists Nik and Eva Speakman: "I couldn't tell you how many operations I had. I've lost count. And it's hard because every time I would go in I'd be like 'When I come out, I'll be perfect' and that was never the case. I look really weird or ugly from a certain angle - definitely not beautiful but you know when you're young and kids are like 'What happened to you?' You look crazy, you look like a monster. I've had every kind of bullying and comment and I used to come home and my mom would console me every day."

"Until I saw her face, I was very scared. Very. Sometimes, I couldn't even speak, I would get choked up. I'm embarrassed to even say that is what I think or even feel. I have so many fans and cleft people who reach out to me and say 'You are a role model' and 'Thank you for being inpsiring.' I know that that is there and I have to believe that."

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