Kathy Mitchell ignored the warnings and drank alcohol while she was pregnant.
Now the teenager has grown up, and so has her daughter—Karli is 43.
But because of fetal alcohol syndrome, the result of alcohol exposure in utero, Karli is the developmental age of a first-grader and still lives at home.
“In middle age, Karli has none of the awareness, self-determination and independence that most of us take for granted. She can’t recognize social cues, is easily led and manipulated, and can’t predict dangerous behaviors. She can only follow one rule at a time and doesn’t understand sequence. She can cross a street at a lighted crosswalk, but if the light is out, she'll step in front of a car. She likes to wear pretty clothes, but she can’t remember to brush her teeth,” reported the Washington Post.
Kathy feels pain at what happened, and regret that she didn’t make a better choice.
“I adore my very sweet daughter,” Kathy said. “She’s a forever innocent child. But not a day goes by that I don’t ask myself, ‘What if? What if alcohol hadn’t been a part of my life?’”
