[spischer]

Cross post
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We are being presented to a birthmother that had a baby a couple weeks ago. The baby tested positive for heroin and cocaine at birth. The mother has been in and out of jail while pregnant.....so they are thinking she did not do a lot of drugs.....not sure though. The baby is in a transitional home and is doing well. Was born at a little over 5pds and is now a little over 7pds. There was no withdrawal while in the hospital...perhaps a little more crying on the first day. I am wondering if anyone adopted a child like this? What research do you have? What questions should we be asking? What are possible problems years from now?

As you can tell we are trying to find out as much as we can....please help.

Thanks so much!
Sarah

[Godsbiggerplan721]

I haven't but I know someone who adopted a baby whose mother did cocaine while pregnant.

I can't offer a lot, but I can offer this. The child is now ten. Her parents were told she would never walk, she runs! She does need special education in school but physically she functions pretty normally.

Leslie

[trixila]

Our daughters's birthmother tested positive for polysubstances at delivery, the baby went through a mild withdrawal. This was an unexpected development for us, but it all worked out. The social workers at the hospital were wonderful. We had taken the phone number of specialists in Chicago who did a phone consult with the medical records that we had access to. Chicago Research Triangle is their name. There are so many variables to consider. What drugs, how much, and at what stage of development. Sadlly, you will never have these answers. In our case, we took a leap of faith and have never looked back. We used Early Intervention (not a good experience, had to fight for services) and did alot of private therapy. My daughter had speech delay and some eating issues, which continue to this day. Nothing insurmountable. She does lag developmentally, but not by alot. It was hard to have her head circumference measured, that was a sure indicator of drug exposure. But she continued on her growth chart. Overall, at 3 1/2, she is a normal preschooler. My radar is on for challenges down the road, but nothing we cannot handle. If you choose to go forward with this placement, it is important to be in the right place. I had to process my anger at the birthmother, for example. We make financial sacrifices to afford her therapy. The agency told us not to feel bad about walking away, there were families experienced in raising children with drug exposure. My research and experience has shown that overcoming drug exposure is more likely than overcoming alcohol exposure. FAS and FAE can be heartbreaking for children and their familes. Feel free to PM me. I've been in your shoes. BTW, this little girl is adorable and has enhanced our life in so many ways. Good luck.

[joskimo]

My suggestion is read everything you can and decide what you can live with - the thing is with exposure, there's no guarentee of anything. Our daughter was born with crack in her system, still breaks my heart. At 3 1/2 she's a great kiddo - but we we work really hard for her. She was an easy infant - realitively, but at a year we started noticing agression. By 18 months we were in early intervention. At this point she's diagnosed with Sensory intergration and ADHD. Would I do it again, you bet - she's my daughter, no different then if we were flesh and blood. We have a potential foster baby coming in who is on methadone for the addiction she was born with. May not be easy, but I'm inspired by the posts I read here from the mom's who've done this before me.

[kydz_7]

had "profound exposure" to crack cocaine as her neonatalogsit told me the first day I met our FD - she was born at 24 weeks (1pound)...aside from being medically fragile, mostly due to her prematurity issues NOT crack exposure...she is the best baby I ever had...and I am a mother of 9...with several other drug exposed babies I have cared for. She is now 15 months old..with major dev. delays (again dr. believes from prematurity not drugs). I can say I would take a drug baby without hesitation...if there are no other medical issues...they are same same as any other newborn...some may have a few days of crying issues...but if you put a "normal" newborn next to one of my "drug" babies...you wouldnt be able to guess which was exposed. Good luck on your decision.

[zombie]

My DD was born crack exposed and my DS was born crack and heroin exposed. They are both very smart, alert, coordinated, healthy, and gorgeous. They are 1 and 2, so long term anything could happen, but there is no indication of any problems whatsoever.
I would suggest though either inducing lactation or getting donated breastmilk for a drug exposed infant.

[Stormster]

Zombie I think that's sound advice. Wish I had done it