[AsFmom]

Hi!

I'm the foster mom of a seven-week old infant. He's been with me since he was 23 days old.

There *are* newborns in the system. It is often a much riskier proposition to try and do a fost/adopt with them, because the courts are much more reluctant to separate newborns from their parents. (And plus, of course, the parents have had less time to do bad things to them.).

Here in Colorado, exposing a fetus to illegal substances has been legally defined as child abuse. This has increased the number of infants in the system, but also increased the number of infants with drug-related problems. Before you go much further, you should do more research on what problems kids have resulting from exposure to cocaine and meth, which are the two most common drugs fetuses are exposed to (after alcohol and tobacco, of course).

That said, it is possible to get a perfectly healthy newborn. My foster son was not exposed to drugs or alcohol.

Holler if I can answer any more questions.