And we have special donor perks donated by Walt Disney World

Thanks to the generosity of Walt Disney World, donors at different levels can receive premiums of a "Furry Friends" collectible or a My First Disney Bear.

In 1982, our family founded a national 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization called Birth Defect Research for Children (BDRC). Over the past 32 years, we have helped thousands of families with birth defect information, support & resource referrals and parent matching services that connect families who have children with similar birth defects.

We also provide the latest information on how to have a healthier baby through our Healthy Baby Resource.

BDRC’s most important project, however, is the National Birth Defect Registry, a powerful tool to investigate the causes of birth defects.  The registry was developed through a collaboration of prominent scientists and has been the first to find links between several patterns of birth defects and environmental exposures.

 The National Birth Defect Registry is funded entirely by the public through individual donations and grants. 

The registry is a rapid and inexpensive early warning system that can identify patterns of birth defects (both structural and functional) connected to similar exposures.

Because we don't use test animals to discover links between birth defects and exposures, the National Birth Defect Registry was given the Research Innovation Award from Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. 

BDRC was also awarded the Humane Charity Seal of Approval.

According to Harold Zenick, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Research and Development of the EPA, “Your birth defect registry is the type of effort needed to make linkages between environmental exposures and birth defects.”

For example, we helped the community of Dickson, Tennessee identify an 1100% increase in cleft palate in their community over a three-year period.  This increase was linked to a solvent leaking into their water supply from an old landfill.

The registry also found the first links between service in the first Gulf War and increases in a rare birth defect of the head and face.  A government study later found a tripling of this same birth defect.

And registry research found a pattern of functional disabilities in the children of Vietnam veterans which include increased in learning & attention disorders, immune and endocrine disorders. 

Other examples of registry research can be found on this page. 

There has never been a greater need for the National Birth Defect Registry. A recent report has revealed that disabilities in the U.S. rose 16% in children younger than 17 between 2001-2011. Cases related to neurodevelopmental conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities or emotional problems increased by 21%.

The registry has started to evaluate neurobehaviorial conditions like Autistic Spectrum Disorder.