Advertisements
Advertisements
I would encourage you to do some research on the effects, short term and long term of specific drugs. For example, cocaine doesn't have the long term effects that most people think. Meth is much bigger issue.
In January, we were matched with and emom who was in a methadone treatment program. Her drug of choice was prescription pain meds. It would be too risky for the baby to stop her cold turkey during pregnancy, so in each of her pregnancies (this was her 3rd), she was in a methadone program where doctors monitored her and provided the correct level for her situation. That baby was born on methadone and would go through withdrawal in the hospital after birth. We'd be looking at 3 to 6 weeks of hospital care depending on the withdrawal symptoms. In FL, the baby would be covered by Medicare and the agency was working with the Ronald McDonald house for us to stay there. We proceeded because our research showed no long term affects after the withdrawal period from Methadone exposure. And no evidence of a higher likelyhood of addiction problems down the road. In the end, this mom changed her mind and decided to try to get sober and parent, so we didn't adopt him. But we would have in a heart beat once we did the research.
We worked with a consultant who helped us look at a bunch of possible scenarios (all were ones they had seen). We looked at scientific evidence of long term effects and decided what situations we could embrace. For drug use, Methadone was a no brainer for us to accept. Methamphetamines would have been a different story.
Do the research, then decide before hand what you can embrace. Then put it in God's hands and trust he won't give you more than he will help you handle.