One of many perks

One of the great things about working as a reporter is that I get to learn new things everyday, and many times, it is about things I already think I know about. Being forced to ask people questions you think you already know the answer to in order to get their take on it is invariably enlightening. Take for example, fetal alcohol syndrome. This seems pretty simple, a woman drinks like a fish while preggers and her baby will end up with some problems. What I learned this week surprised me. I interviewed a woman who adopted 2 fasd children to raise along with her 4 biological children. She told me fetal alcohol syndrome is a spectrum disorder - like autism. Even one drink can cause damage to a fetus growing in the womb. And what is really cool - or not depending on which way you look at it - is that what happens to the child depends on the day the mother had the alcohol. So if she drinks during the 3rd week of pregnancy, the baby's face will be affected. Later on, it might be the ability to control his or her temper. Growing babies are amazing. Flooding this wonder with alcohol is not. I know it is hard to change habits, I know (BELIEVE me, I know) that sometimes babies come by surprise and the mom had a drink before being aware, but I also know the fetal alcohol syndrome is not hereditary. If the mother is carrying the child, she should be applauded. Chances are she will want to raise that child. So why make your life that much more difficult by giving the baby a problem it otherwise wouldn't have? I know this is a complicated issue, and it is naive of me to think it can be solved simply by telling moms not to drink with a bun in the oven, but this is about what women can do for their kids, not about what they can't do for themselves.