News / Health & Wellness
The Heartbreak of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
One adoptive mother’s story serves as a cautionary tale for all women.
Adoptive mom Lori Gertz discovered this the hard way. She was vilified in 2010 when she sent away her seven-year-old adoptive daughter, Ellie, to be raised by strangers. What led to this extreme act? Gertz blames fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD), which causes an array of neurological deficits that can result in poor judgment, inability to bond and aggression.
In Ellie’s case, that meant violent outbursts that began in infancy and progressed from there. She threatened to kill her little sister and pulled her pregnant mother down the stairs. There were suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations and consultations with nearly 40 doctors. The FASD diagnosis didn’t solve the problem, but it did give the Gertzes the information they needed to formulate a plan.
Fearing for the family’s safety, Gertz made the heartbreaking choice to relinquish her daughter to the care of a couple from Washington state who had experience with FASD, hoping it would allow Ellie to improve.
Ellie’s case isn’t a rare exception. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), approximately 125,000 women a year have serious alcohol problems throughout pregnancy. FASD affects about 40,000 newborns a year -- about one percent of all live births in the United States -- according to the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS). And since FASD has no cure, it’s a diagnosis that’s for life, resulting in 2 million adults being affected.
After a 15-month honeymoon with her new family, Ellie’s aggression and outbursts returned. The two families faced unfounded charges of abuse, and now they struggle to co-parent a child whose brain has been permanently damaged by her biological mother's drinking, Gertz told ABCNews.com.
Gertz can’t undo the damage Ellie’s birth mom did during pregnancy, so she’s speaking out now to save other children from the same fate. Gertz is outspoken in warning women not to drink during pregnancy, ever, and to be “ultra-cautious” during childbearing years. “The legacy of FASD never wanes,” she cautions. She should know.
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