Living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 

shes mentally ill

I agree. I’m glad she knows she’s the one who made the choice.

​@@Ap9leJacks-wy3pqaccountability goes such a long way

Amen, God’s blessings to her and her family. 🥰✝️🙏🏻❤️😀

Yup I’m here too 0:06

Shii 😂

Estoy aquí por qué pusieron este video en la escuela

How do u know 🤣

I am😭😭😭😭

I agree. It’s almost like it’s rug swept

I agree 100%, she caused this and wast responsible enough to prevent it

Yeah I agree it’s terrible. It’s hard to see the comments saying she’s brave for openly coming out about it.

@@BigRedProductions904 and you cannot sue or prosicute because alcholism is classified as a disease...in cases like this that should be waved as look at what it has done to these inocent children.The parents should be held acountable.

@@rosejr2614 hope the parents have good paying jobs as these kids will need care for life

💀

Yes

Dawg😭

Yoooo 😅

🤦🏾‍♀️

glad you are saying this, not all kids with FASD get lucky, look at Nikolas Cruz.

You tell them! Coming from a fellow disabled person.

I’m so sorry to hear that 😢 I hope it gets better for you. No matter what anyone tells you you have a purpose and it’s up to you to find it with gods help you can. Believe in yourself and better days will come.

Wow God bless you, when I graduate undergrad I want to go to law school and fight for people like yourself who have been in abused homes

thats the exact situation i am in currently 😢 disabled and trapped with an abusive narcissistic mother

Respectfully, i would like to ask how has this affected your adulthood?

I agree. All of this recovery and accountability should have taken place the moment she found out she was pregnant.

She doesn't deserve them

Probably the only reason she's sober

Once an addict always an addict

@@cats2905 Her body her choice, right?

​@cats2905 let me guess you are a middle aged single cat lady, always judging and pathetic 🙄

Addiction (in this case alcoholism) is a disease. Your own brain chemistry is working against you at that point. We don't know the reasons why the mom began drinking or the situation in which she got pregnant so it's really not our place to judge. From this video it seems her daughters are wildly happy so that is the most important thing now.

@@itsmelive I really love this channel and it changes my views a lot but Your comment is woke bs Sorry

We are all just dust in the wind. I think the biggest thing to come out of this specific situation is the mom being actually deciding to be open and honest, despite knowing all the judgement people would throw at her. Also, the fact that kids with FAS can be healthy and happy!

@@itsmelive she said she was not trying to judge her so I think she's aware of all you said

@@KaplyaNikotina What do you want the mum to do instead? She’s clearly learned from her mistake and is doing what’s best for her and her kids. Would you prefer her (and her kids) instead be further punished legally and have the kids be robbed of a now caring, loving mother? If the idea of rehabilitation is woke bs and you think that no-one deserves a second chance, I’d much rather be on the woke side of things.

I agree, this was very brave, so many very judgemental people. We all have our struggles.

Of course the person with a pride flag and an animated character talks about how brave a woman was to mess up her kid's life. Jesus

@@rileywilson7434 Damn bruh. Chill don't be so easily triggered. They were saying it was brave of the mother to admit her error. You can tell this mother is struggling with her mistake but taking care of her daughters. People who are able to speak out and educate others for their own faults helps change lives.

@@rileywilson7434 ppl want to say, "don't judge" but when you say things that disagree with their beliefs and viewpoints, they sure do. This mom clearly stated she used to judge ppl that did what she did and yet, she gets pregnant and does it anyway. She had a living being inside her. Unless she had no clue she was pregnant, then i can see that. My mom was pregnant with my sis and did not know till she was 4 months along. No bump and still had her period. I am glad her mom takes care of her daughter, and now responsible, but i am still shaking my head at something that could have been avoided. Addiction is a "choice" everyone has the will to stop what they're doing. We are not mindless robots. We know right from wrong and "choose" to do it.

Brave? She caused this

The dumb one died

Печально, что дети расплачиваются за деяния своих родителей. Судя по всему, у девочки все в порядке с психикой и интеллектом, что что-то не так, видно по внешности. Не понимаю зачем девочку так ужасно стригут. Надеюсь, что мать приложить все усилия, чтобы компенсировать свою вину перед дочерью и начнёт её развивать, заниматься с ней.

unfortunately the child can never grow from it.

@@Yupyupyup32yes unfortunately. But this is the reality so what would you rather the mother do.

@@MScrista24 go to jail

Mental illness and addiction are not irresponsibilities, they are serious conditions. Addiction is not a choice.

I was born with AFS my mother was an alcoholic, and She passed away in 2018 because of alcoholism. It's a choice to drink.

@@idwtbkabbam drinking alcohol is definitly a choice.

@@inged1986 Alcoholism is a mental illness. I am a recovering alcoholic and I can tell you for sure that drinking is not a choice. It is a horrible disease and it is very difficult to stop drinking

@@lovingmayberry2000 We are not guilty of the things we have done. When we made them we were sick, we were not in our right mind

Or I thought they get the baby taken away

Why? What good would that do anyone? This mother went to rehab and became sober. That's a much better result!

I understand why you feel that way but addiction is so strong. These aren't bad women, they were just lost in life. You hurt a lot of people when you're in addiction in many ways, not only your own children. It's terrible. And you feel guilt and the worst shame imaginable. In this woman's case, she sobered up and became a good mom to her kids, why bother taking them? As a recovered addict myself, I can tell you I still lay awake because of my guilt and shame, none of the bad things I did were me, they were the substances that had taken over my mind body and spirit and I'd give anything to go back in time and change things. Jail would have lead me to suicide probably, I needed treatment and kind support. An iron fist isn't always the answer.

​@@yesleksmith There are things that can never be made up for. If an alcohol addicted man brutally raped his wife and then started therapy and became sober, would you expect the wife to stay with him and show "kind support"? I wouldn’t. But the victim of this mother's doings still lives with her. Natalie probably doesn't understand yet what her mother did to her, but some day she will and she will realize that the person she is supposed to trust is the one who robbed her of a normal life. With destroying this child's life she lost the right to be her mother. I'm the daughter of an alcohol addict mother. She drank herself to death. And she always said that she would have quit if people had been kinder to her, her life wouldn’t have been so stressfull, her marriage would have been better... It were always the others who should have behaved differently. The harsh truth is: Only you are responsible for your life. And if you can’t stop drinking when noone supports you, no one loves you and no one is willing to give you a second chance then you haven't overcome your addiction.

I agree

I hope ur doing alright

yeah, the absolute selfishness of this woman knows no bounds. she ruined the life of a child, because of her addiction.

You are definately not an alcoholic! Lol- I am (13 years sober) NO question, no way I could have just stopped drinking for 9 months- a real alcoholic has to be in jail or rehab, pregnancy unfortunately isn't a strong enough match for addiction.

Then you aren't an alcoholic or are underestimating how hard stopping would be. Also, bodies aren't clocks. You might not realise that you are pregnant for several months and by then the harm is most likely done.

Disability isn’t the end of the world calm tf down

@@thebuilder5271 Get tf off with your political correctness. She ruined her life. No need to sugar coat.

@@thebuilder5271 says a guy with no disability. if you deal with those kids and the real world youd see it is the end of everything

Why didn't she go to rehab when she found out she was pregnant? Why wait till after her daughter was born? I don't get it

You are awesome! And I agree with everything you said

I wrote a very honest comment under this video not too long ago…. I don’t see it ,so looks like it got removed. I basically agree with you But In my comment…. I probably was not as nice as you. I definitely was not as nice. 😆

Generally I would agree, not because I'm judging, but because the child deserves a parent who can take care of them. I have an adopted child and the parents didn't try at all to change. However, this mother did change. Not in time to prevent consequences, unfortunately, but if she became clean and was trustworthy at that point forward, I don't see a legitimate reason to take a child away, except just to punish her. You'd have to be able to trust the parent, obviously. But if a parent is safe and loving, a child is almost always better off with their biological parent. That's a big if. As much as I value adoption, I see how it traumatizes even infants. It is a loss and an identity crisis that they deal with their whole lives, even when there's no memory. I am still all for adoption, but in this case it does not seem it was necessary. Maybe she had a family member who had temporary custody while she was in rehab. But I think it turned out for the best. As long as the mother was parenting well, the daughter was better off to stay with her. It's hard to see kids get hurt, but you've got to look at it going forwards, not back.

@JM51501 • I guess God had other plans. Like forgiveness, deliverance, healing, and restoration. Love covers a multitude of faults. Beautiful family. 💙💙💙🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾👍🏾🤟🏾😊😇🥰

​@@CJrunner7199• Well said. Thank you. 💙💙💙🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾👍🏾🤟🏾😊😇🥰 💯💯💯

Lmfao ! Thanks for proving the pro-choice movement is pro-mur.dering children.

It’s not way worse than being a drunk driver. It’s almost as bad, because in both ways you risk ruining or ending someone’s life. Both drunk drivers and pregnant women who drink should be judged terribly

And both should be in jail or lose their kids

@@daniel4412 It is because of your comment.

It is common knowledge that the only safe amount of alcohol to have during pregnancy is ZERO

@@WilliamHollinger2019 even before conceiving. So if you are planning to have a baby stop drinking

I hear what you're saying, however I think it's important to draw a distinction between drinking a glass of wine per day during pregnancy, and FAS. FAS requires very heavy alcohol intake. The mother of a child born with FAS will have a serious addiction problem.

Imagine being called brave for permanently maiming your child

I wish the fathers had to face the same restrictions. They get away with everything. It's a good thing the court system at least attempts to make things fair

Why?

she drank while pregnant@@elliottkitai5890

I wish you the best both of you ❤️

you sound weak!!

The other kid looked 100% normal. Why do you say "these kids would have been much different"?

Then she's doing better than you because beating yourself up about it won't change what's already done. You just get on with it.

Yes hashtag toilet gang

She's willing to speak, publicly, of what she did, so others will know of the negative consequences of drinking during pregnancy AND so others will know it's possible to become sober and become a wonderful mom after making the decision to do so (and with the support of others) - despite knowing there are judgmental people who will blame her for her drinking and disregard all the changes she has made and the excellent care and love she is clearly providing for both of her daughters now. That is indeed brave!

@@krisw5318 yeahh we are so bad bad for judging her! i mean she is so amazinggg righttt what a mom should be the mother of the year like seriously! its so hard to like not drink right? its harder than being a ret@rd with FAS like omggg

That’s true. Like yeah I beat her but now I’m all better and she saved me from myself! Like okay but the little girl still has to pay the price forever.

Because she's honest with herself. What exactly would a prison sentence do?

@@beatricesell7171 send a message to our society that we don’t tolerate abusing children in the womb.

Ayyyo chill with the damnation 😂 hold your piece ,that ain't no one documenting the bones underneath your bed 🛏️

@mikecru9229 I will not, and I didn't screw my child up because of my carelessness, so no bones like that under my bed bud. When you make poor decisions that affect other people, you will get zero sympathy from me. 🤷‍♀️

Agree with you!

Watching your child every day is a sort of mental prison and probably harder than being in jail.

@@MultiLinda42 maybe you should change your outlook and start caring.

Until they hit 16yrs old. Then one will be out partying without her sister.

And noticing she is facing a lifetime of having to care for her sister after her mother is passed out on someone's couch or dead. She ruined two lives.

Great moms don’t drink while pregnant but ok

​@@Mimi-bs7kn that doesn't make her a bad mom, shes still a great mom because she turned her life around for her daughter. Great moms, turn their life around, great moms don't blame others, great moms try their best to get better, great moms make mistakes and admit to them while trying to not repeat it. Your definition of a "great mom" needs to be reevaluated. Be more understanding, not judgmental.

@@Mimi-bs7kn wrong! Great mom's make mistakes, admit to them, fight their battles and turn their lives around for their children.

@@zeldagamelover24 terrible mother..she should be locked up!

"By the Grace of God her children were born healthy," Really? Have they been examined for FASD and been found not to have it? I'm wondering if they have it in a subtle way - in a way that effects executive functioning and not intelligence or facial appearance. Unnoticed and undiagnosed FASD can seriously impair someone's quality of life.

Yes

Yes

What is the situation? Share the tea

@@jrideout2802People are speculating that her child (Chriseans child) has FAS or Cri du chat syndrome

@@jrideout2802 people have been speculating that Junior might have FAS or cri-du-chat because of how he looks and cries

same. the guilt would eat me up

But regardless, there’s a little being that needs you; you have to be there to care and raise them. The mom did what was right, she got sober and took her motherhood seriously

Watching 1:54 makes me think she felt the same way. Good chance she wasn't in rehab only for addiction, but possibly also depression or suicidal ideation. We are often our worst critics

Those kids are living in an institution. This girl is living with her loving mom, who has recovered from her disease and will forever be in atonement for the hurt she caused her daughter. These situations aren’t comparable.

@@MNHRI This girl is a lot younger than they were. The struggles got bigger as they grew to teenage years and older. When they started comparing themselves to other young healty adults. it was extremely sad and tragic, when they now cried a lot about what they could have been like. If the mothers had not been drinking during pregnancy. It was just so painful to see all the physical challenges as well as the psychological ones they had to struggle with, on a daily basis, as young adults.

How would you implement that into law? I’ve known multiple women who didn’t know they were pregnant until the 2nd or 3rd trimester, I know 3 that only found out once they gave birth. How would the courts be able to determine whether a woman knew for a fact she was pregnant as well as knowingly drinking despite it?

How would you punish it? She is sober, she looks after her kids. She likely has frequent social services visits still and will be scrutinized more than most parents. I'm not excusing her behaviour but addiction is crap and she pulled herself out of it for her kid.

I wish there was more informational material available for not only the publics education but also for healthcare workers. More than 60% of pregnancies are unplanned and FASD can be triggered/caused by as little as one drink. It could be a homeless or low income woman on the street, an alcoholic or an upper class socialite. One dinner party with friends where you have that one glass of wine with dinner only to find out a few days later you are pregnant. The brain begins to develop at approx 6wks gestation, a time when many women are just beginning to get the signs or symptoms she may be pregnant. You don't have to be an alcoholic for it to happen to you. It can happen to anyone from any walk of life. It's also often misdiagnosed as ODD, ADHD and even as mental illness, girls are also more difficult to identify than boys as boys tend manifest the behaviors more clearly than girls whose symptoms tend to be masked by females natural instinct to mimic.

Plus it creates a great bridge for empathy, understanding, learning, psych/sociology, acceptance, curiosity, normalize different bodies

That government support is a lifesaver for sure

It's not the child's responsibility to "save" the parents life

Children aren't meant to be born into this world with a job to do like saving their mother!

yassss so happy for her to turn things around for HERSELF. that child is fugged tho. for life. no turning things around

that’s a crime ?!

​@@LilReeskiiyes it is

Generational Trauma Tragedy

That's not a helpful, or constructive comment. Judging or ridiculing the mother will not help her, the child, or any other family dealing with FAS. The helpful thing to do is encourage people with an addiction to seek help. Being judgmental or stigmatising those with addictions only decreases the likelihood of them seeking help. That benefits neither the addict, the child, nor society.

It's not any different! Thank you!

Female privilege that's why

Her body , her kid . We're you gonna pay for the kid if she was sober ? No

@@melindasmith3713you’re sick 😂

👎🏻

And why is no one talking about how this kids hair is cut????? She should be in jail just for that alone.!

Schools are one possible place to learn such things, but they're not the only option. Family, neighbors, and others in the community can also help a person learn such things - in a more practical way than is often the case in school, where (especially by high school) there's not always adequate adult supervision, let alone opportunities for teens to talk with people who take the role of mentor, at length, about difficult subjects.