Families Living with FASD: Up Close and Personal

This chapter contains a series of unedited stories from family members and people affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. There is an entire spectrum of family needs, just as there is a spectrum of effects. All families share the grief of lost dreams for their children and the shocking transition to a whole new journey in parenting. All families are stretched beyond expectation emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and financially. Health, marital, and safety challenges are common. The chapter includes contributions from both adoptive and birth families, mothers and a father, affected people and siblings, with and without alcoholism in the family.