Something Else to Consider
FASD education, awareness and advocacy is our job at massFAS. Upon hearing that Roe vs Wade was overturned, Laura and I could only see that an increase in rates of children with FASD would be an unintended consequence.
As two women working for a woman-led and women-run social service agency, IHR (Institute for Health and Recovery) and specifically massFAS, we feel very strongly about any legislation that removes personal choice and rights from women. We are also writing to highlight some significant issues that have not been a part of any discussion so far. These issues overlap with each other and WILL have major implications on society. They are adoption, trauma and FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders).
The societal view of adoption is commonly an unrealistic, uninformed view that says, if the biological mother is unable, unwilling, or deemed unsuitable to raise their own child, we will find a suitable home. There is no reference to difficulties incurred by the biological parents, the children who are removed from their parents, and the new family systems that will substitute for them. As adoptive parents, we could frankly discuss this at length, but suffice it to say that adoption is wonderful and challenging at the same time. Not every adoptee feels it in the same way, but there is pain and loss to the adoptee, just by virtue of knowing that they are not with their biological family.
Adoption trauma is often called RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) or Developmental Trauma. It is real and extremely prevalent in the adoption community. No matter how you slice it, adoption means loss. That loss can be mild and more tolerable, or it can be overwhelming and all encompassing. Adoptees often have no idea how to deal with all the emotions of this.
As mothers of children with many challenges and struggles because of trauma, adoption and prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, the unspoken truth is that we know that rates of FASD will increase significantly in relation to this recent SC decision. As parents on this journey, we have had to search alone to find help for our babies, because FASD is under-recognized, under-diagnosed and under-supported in the United States. Having a diagnosis feels exciting and sad all at the same time. It is exciting because the correct diagnosis gets you the proper treatment, right? The reality is there are extremely limited FASD informed services available globally and nationally.
The increase in the numbers of children placed in foster care or placed for adoption will have a major impact on every aspect of governmental supports. Did the recent pandemic teach us nothing about the lack of mental health support services available in this country? I am certain that our government is not aware of, or prepared for the staggering increase in numbers of children needing placement, or the medical, emotional, developmental, and mental health services that will be necessary for birth, foster and adoptive parents and all the children in their care, as well as the increasing number of foster and adoptive families needed to provide these homes in a post Roe v Wade America.
by Kristen Eriksen and Laura Bedard