Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Fresh off my blog ripping on President Bush, I am ready to discuss an even more upsetting topic: fetal alcohol syndrome. I recently finished reading the award-winning novel, The Broken Cord by Michael Dorris. The novel is an autobiographical account of Dorris's experience as a single father of three adopted children, one of whom, "Adam" (Reynold Abel in real life) that suffers from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Throughout the novel, we learn about the horrors associated with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is " a disorder of permanent birth defects that occurs in the offspring of women who drink alcohol during pregnancy." (Wikipedia) I grew attached to Michael and his son Adam throughout the novel and was incredibly saddened to learn about the additional tragedies that besieged the Dorris's following the publication of this eye-opening book. Adam was killed one year after publication by a hit-and-run car accident at the age of 23 after he forgot to look both ways when crossing the street and Michael committed suicide in 1997 after separating from his wife of 16 years Louise and facing sexual assault allegations at the hands of his daughters.

But why do I bring up this novel in my blog? After learning about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, I feel as though more people need to be made aware of its repercussions. It has been proven that having any alcohol during pregnancy puts the unborn child in danger. With this as publicly accepted and documented information, why do some women continue to drink and put their children in harms way during their pregnancy? Can some people really not understand the consequences of their actions and if so should these people be able to have children?

Drinking while pregnant is the same if not worse than child abuse, so why aren't these women jailed? Unfortunately, unless a there are no laws against drinking while pregnant. I don't agree with this. While enforcing any laws would obviously be difficult, I don't think it is fair to that unborn child or society to permanently put him or her at a significant disadvantage in life. Everyone should be given an equal shot at success and happiness in life, and if one is afflicted with FAS that option is just not there.

While the discussion about FAS could go on for years (read The Broken Chord and you will see what I mean), I think the most important thing to take away is the importance of protecting the fragile fetus and giving it a chance to live. Drinking while pregnant just doesn't work. Ever.