Ok, I feel a bit daft posting in here, but I really need some help. My daughter who is 6 has microtia - basically one ear. She is completely deaf in this ear and also it is under-developed, with no ear canal and just a little bit of a shape as it were. I have the same condition too, and had lots of surgery to reconstruct it as a child which failed miserably. She has no interest whatsoever in reconsrtuction but is desperate to hear. When she was small we were offered a BAHA (hearing aid) but decide to wait till she was older. When she started primary school she became very aware of her limitations hearing - wise and asked if she could 'hear like my friends'. Long story short, our PCT is refusing to pay for this as she has one 'good' ear. I know, through support groups, a lot of families with children who have the same condition and, without exception, so far, every one of these children has been offered, or has, a hearing aid. Our local hospital is a world famous, massive teaching hospital with the facilities to do this surgery but refuse to. They also refuse to refer us anywhere else due to the funding issues. Now, I have contacted NDCS, PALS, my MP, appealed etc, all to no avail. DD will not get a hearing whatever. Single sided deafness is a debilitating and difficult condition to live with. It's not like being 'a bit deaf', it's like living in mono, it's socially embarrassing and educationally a nightmare - a TOD came to visit her at school and said she is doing brilliantly - she's well above her class academically and has a 'lovely group of friends' etc. I could scream!!! She may be doing well now, but I remember so well, getting to about 12 and just wanting to give up! It gets to a point where you know people are pissed off with you saying 'what? sorry?' and ignoring people on your 'wrong' side cos you can't bloody well hear them!!! I am trying my utmost to get the pct to change their minds but am rapidly running out of ideas. I have almost resigned myself to the fact that we will have to start fundraising to go private but i really don't want to do that. An anonymous MNetter has told me to post on here for some advice. I feel a fraud because it's such a minor issue but anything anyone can do just to give me an idea of what to do from here would be fabulous. Tonight dd got really upset and said 'when will I get my hearing aid? I'm fed up with saying 'what what what?' all the time at school'. It breaks my heart that something so relatively cheap and simple and life enhancing is being denied her. If we wanted cosmetic reconstruction we could get that in a heartbeat! Madness. If you've made it this far, thank you!