- 1
- 2
- 3
- next
- | single page
Heather, who asked us not to use her last name, was finally able to stop drinking when she was six months pregnant with Jayden. (Bill Costello/KTUU-DT) |
-
One FASD researcher became devoted to the cause when he saw the difference in brain size of a child affected by alcohol and those who are not. (File/KTUU-DT)
-
Every year foster parents and caretakers of FASD-affected children testify in Juneau. (Jonathan Hartford/KTUU-DT)
-
Doctors emphasize that the effects of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders are 100 percent preventable. (File/KTUU-DT)
-
-
Employees at a shelter in Juneau estimate that one-third of those they serve have some sort of alcohol-related birth defects. (Jonathan Hartford/KTUU-DT)
by Rhonda McBride
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- About 40 years ago pediatricians at the University of Washington compared notes on babies with similar birth defects and asked the question: Was exposure to alcohol during pregnancy the common thread?
Today researchers have identified a wide range of problems known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
"I was a daily drinker. That's how I dealt with life in general," said Heather, a mother who is a recovering alcoholic.
Heather has asked that her last name not be used in order to protect her family's reputation.
She was a daily drinker when she became pregnant with Jayden.
Jayden was born two months premature and is still so tiny for a baby almost nine months old.
"I was drinking in the beginning when I didn't know I was pregnant. I found out I was pregnant at 13 weeks," Heather said.
She tried to quit on her own.
"Six months when I admitted myself to treatment. That's when I totally quit drinking," Heather said.
Though Jayden seems like a happy baby, odds are that the alcohol her mom drank during pregnancy will cause problems.
It may take a number of years to see the extent of the damage.
"Oh, yes. I have regrets, especially the worry and the guilt," Heather says.
Heather hopes to raise this child, her fourth.
Two others were adopted out.
Another daughter is with her father. Heather suspects at least one those three children may also have FASD.
"And things just didn't fit. It was like her brain was Swiss Cheese," Sherri Wes of Juneau said before the legislature. Wes is the adopted parent of a child with FASD.
Every year they come to Juneau: Foster parents or those who have adopted children brought into the world by women who drank during pregnancy.
"She is illogical in a logical world," Wes said.
Wes' daughter Brooke is now 18. She looks normal, but she has poor judgment that can easily get her in trouble.
