This Mother Drank While Pregnant. Here’s What Her Daughter’s Life is Like Now At Age 43.
Kathy Mitchell wants to share something with you. She’s not proud of it,
and it’s not a behavior she hopes you’ll emulate. It’s just the truth:
As a teen, Kathy drank alcohol while pregnant with her daughter, Karli.
It was a perilous if unwitting mistake that has defined both of their
lives.
To Kathy, Karli’s is simply a life snuffed of promise. “I adore my very sweet daughter,” Kathy says. “She’s a forever innocent child. But not a day goes by that I don’t ask myself, ‘What if? What if alcohol hadn’t been a part of my life?’ ”
#4
To Kathy, Karli’s is simply a life snuffed of promise. “I adore my very sweet daughter,” Kathy says. “She’s a forever innocent child. But not a day goes by that I don’t ask myself, ‘What if? What if alcohol hadn’t been a part of my life?’ ”
Fetal
alcohol spectrum disorder, or FASD, covers a range of impairments from
severe, such as Karli’s fetal alcohol syndrome, to mild. Its effects can
include impaired growth, intellectual disabilities and such
neurological, emotional and behavioral issues as attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder, vision problems and speech and language delays.
FASD is also sometimes characterized by a cluster of facial features:
small eyes, a thin upper lip and a flat philtrum (the ridge between the
nose and upper lip).
As
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put it, the disabilities
“last a lifetime. There is no cure, though early intervention treatment
can improve a child’s development.”
0 comments: