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Adoption
Meeting with domestic program specialist
My social worker mentioned that we would be meeting with our domestic program specialist soon. She mentioned that we would discuss which levels of drug and alcohol exposure we were comfortable with during which trimester, etc. It will be really specific. I have some information from some books regarding this, but I was wondering - is there any website or place I could go to for quick reference information regarding drug and alcohol exposure per trimester and the consequences? Please let me know. Thanks :0
zanymermaid
The Chick Who Loves Lit
The Chick Who Loves LitThis discussion has been closed.
Re: Meeting with domestic program specialist
I found this link from the FAQ to be really helpful:
https://www.adoptmed.org/storage/Prenatal Alcohol and Drug Exposures In Adoption - Davies Bledsoe.pdf
(Sorry I can't make it clicky on my mac)
It's not exactly a quick reference but there is a lot of information there and it reviews a lot of the research studies that have been done. To me, this was more helpful than just reading info from a website when you're not really sure where the info is coming from (or maybe I just took too many research classes in grad school...). Good luck!
I second talking to a trusted pediatrician or fam doc.
It's also helpful if the doc has worked in areas that have a higher use of drugs. Your average suburband pediatrician may not have much of a caseload of children born to alcohol and drug exposed babies.
Another thing to consider--- most of what you'll find in research are studies of children exposed who were not adopted. This brings up nurture vs nature. A child born to and raised by someone who used drugs while pregnant probably has a very different home environment than you'll provide. Does that make sense?? I'd love to see a research paper that only studies outcomes of children that were adopted at birth.
And on a personal note...we started out closed on nearly everything but as time went on we opened ourselves to marijunana use and occassional and early use of cocaine. We were not comfortable with the highly addictive nature of meth. We would only consider alcohol exposure that was limited to very few drinks and done prior to knowing pregnancy.
I am not suggesting those limits are "the right ones"... I just found it helpful seeing how other people navigating these tough decisions.