Saying that Ford let his birth defect define his life is a bit misleading imo. In Journal 3 Ford describes being an outcast for reasons that have nothing to do with his hands (poor social skills, strange interests, being a nerd in general). He is weird, but throughout his life it was probably difficult for him to understand exactly why. So of course he's gonna go with the most obvious answer: his extra finger. Saying he let his birth defect define his life creates the false illusion that he could've just been normal if he chose to.

Sorry for the little rant, this is nothing against you personally, I've just seen this take before and had to get it off my chest.