FAS, the leading cause of mental retardation, is responsible for a host of other disabling condition in children and adults. Heart defects, asthma and headaches are among the physical problems that can be traced to a mother's consumption of alcohol while pregnant or nursing. Her brother, also adopted, had mental retardation, too, but he was still able to learn and now has his own apartment. Despite irrevocable brain damage, developmental delays, attention problems, learning difficulties, unpredictable behavior and social awkwardness, one in five pregnant women continues to drink. Whether they are ''social drinkers,'' as Ms. Norris says she was during her pregnancy, or ''lifelong alcoholics,'' as she describes her birth mother, the results can be equally damaging.
Any alcohol consumed during pregnancy poses serious consequences for an unborn child.
Ms. Norris says her life today is good. Because she and her son have been diagnosed, they receive Supplemental Security Income rather than welfare, a distinction that brings with it some measure of dignity. If either Ms. Norris or her mother had been alcohol-free when pregnant, she might have other things to be happy about, too. Deborah Kendrick, a Cincinnati free-lance writer, is a nationally recognized advocate for people with disabilities. The Cincinnati Enquirer , a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper.