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Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is a complex disorder with a range of phenotypic manifestations and a birth prevalence that varies by population (1/500–1/2,000). Investigators have postulated that CL/P cases may have abnormal brain development, citing structural brain differences, and cognitive impairments in affected individuals. Previously, increased levels of non‐right handedness (NRH), a marker for abnormal brain lateralization, have also been demonstrated in CL/P cases. Atypical hair whorls, more direct markers of altered brain development, may be related to NRH. To date, neither hair whorl patterns nor their relationship to NRH have been studied in a CL/P population. In the current study, we investigate the hypothesis that altered brain development is part of the phenotypic spectrum of NS CL/P by assessing NRH and atypical hair whorls in CL/P families. The study population included 49 …