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Then choose one of Hartmann's questions below to answer in a comment, response write.
- If a pregnant woman is addicted to drugs or alcohol, what might happen to her unborn baby?
- In your culture, who takes care of the baby of a mother who cannot take care of her child because of her addiction?
- in your culture, do many people adopt a child - in other words, take some else's child into their home and legally become the child's parents?
- How might war cause an increase in drug addiction?
Reference
The question that asks who takes care of the baby of a mother whose addiction prevents her from caring for the child interested me. Australia has a sophisticated social security system and the Department of Youth and Community Services has power to intervene when a child is in danger because its parents fail to be good parents. I don't know, but I guess that drug abuse, especially alcohol, is a common cause of this. When the parents are too drugged out to earn money or when their drug dependence causes them to spend all the money on drugs not on food or care for children, the government agency can get a court order to remove the child and care for him or her. If the parents are really hopeless and do not improve, the court can also order that the child be put up for adoption by a better family.
ReplyDeleteI think this is better than a child, especially a baby, staying with parents who fail in their responsibility as parents, but it's not a very good solution. A better solution would be to encourage women with drug problems who become pregnant to have an abortion. An abortion prevents the problem before it happens.
Abortion also seems to me a sensible way to prevent the awful situation of a child suffering from FAS or other permanent damage from drugs used by the mother.
DeleteI am quite agree with your idea that we can prevent many future problems by an abortion, not only for the baby which may born with disability or abnormality, but also for the sake of social system. There are many cases that children who grew up with careless parents causing many social problem such as robbing, dealing drugs or raping. An as Ling's comment below suggest that if the baby is abnormal, the grandparents must have a great better understanding about raising a child like this. It may be their life's burden.
DeleteHowever, the problem is that the disability of baby cannot be used as a reason to perform legal abortion in Thailand. By the law, a woman can ask the doctor to abort the pregnancy only in two cases, first case is that the pregnancy will cause danger to the mother's life and the second case is that the pregnancy was happened by some crime such as rape. Also, as a Buddhist country, performing abortion is considered a totally morally wrong action. They said that you will be burnt in hell and that baby's soul will accompany you everywhere you go. Moreover, your life will be a catastrophe, you will never ever success doing anything in your life.
Actually, there is a campaign to rectify Thai abortion law so that it can be legal if the pregnant woman is not ready to take responsibility as a mother. As we can predict, this campaign faced many objection. But I hope that we can find a good solution that they can compromise real soon.
Ice,
DeleteThanks for the useful information about the current legal situation in Thailand.
In case of a child with FAS, abortion might be a better solution than finding someone who can foster the child because foster parents or caretaker would not encounter with the child suffering from FAS.
DeleteHowever, in Thailand, abortion is such sensible thing that it has become a controversial issue. Many people may disagree with killing unborn child because the belief that although unborn child is not a completely developed human, it will definitely develop as a general human.
Thus, if the problem is prevented by with abortion, it seemed that many people may be not morally acceptable since this is to destroy one human’s life. Regarding Buddhist’s belief, killing human is a sin (When I mentioned about morality, this reminded me to think about Carving the Roast Beast by Law again.).
Australia’s policy for taking care of the baby you said is pretty helpful to effectively aid those babies whose their parents lack of responsibility to foster because of the problem with drug addiction or the like. This idea may be beneficial to Thailand as well if Thai government has adapted it.
In Thailand, normally if the mother who has drug problem still has her parents, the grandparents of the baby will take care it for her. Some may let her husband do this job, but in accompany with the grandparents because in Thai culture, we tend to think that elder people know a lot of think through their passing experience so they are the best person who can teach our child. If there is no relative of that woman left, there is a charity child care home to take such baby. This home is in the area of rehabilitation center so that the mother can visit her child frequently under surveillance.
ReplyDeleteI support you, Ice
DeleteIt seems like a mother's or father's family are the best choice for taking care a baby. However, I'm quite sure that most baby will born with abnormality,so their parent needs understanding for taking care their child; moreover, they need more financial support for curing both mother and baby. I'm worried that it may increase more social problem in our society too.
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DeleteIce's comment reminded me of a friend who is a grandfather. His son is a drug addict. My friend is happy to help out with food and pays bills so that his grandchild is not hungry, but he does it so that his son, the child's father, never gets any cash.
DeleteAnd when the father is in rehab., my friend takes care of his grandchild.
If a pregnant woman is addicted to drugs or alcohol, both direct and indirect effects will go their baby. In extreme case, the baby may die since they are not born, for some addicts, they mat think that it is better that they are alive with physical or mental abnormality. The baby may born with incomplete heart, lung or other organs, lack of arm or leg, or their brain will be destroy and cannot take care themselves anymore. Finally, some mother may decide to leave her baby on some corners in the city because she cannot respond their child.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Ling, that some substances from drugs or alcohols must affect the unborn babies either directly or indirectly. It is not an useful kind of foods which should feed the babies; in other words, the unborn babies should be treated in more proper ways, especially feeding a lot of nutrients to them.
DeleteRegarding question 1, in case that a pregnant female has drunk a lot of alcohol and also addicted drug, it would causes several problem to her child. Firstly, the unborn baby would not have completely developed body. Secondly. there may be a chance to cause severe disorder such as troubled liver system and so on. Moreover, it probably could not have normal immune system like general children.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the unborn cannot effectively develop organs and also immune system which might make them suffer from several diseases and this iis very dangerous for their lives including high risk of death and incomplete organs.
DeleteIn my culture, if a mother cannot take care of her child because of her drug addiction, her father or mother, along with her cousins might adopt her child instead. I believe that most Thailand's family used to taking care of their children by themselves ; in other words, they don't intend to hire a babysitter to adopt their children, especially when a mother has a problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that most Thais family don't left their children, but some of Thais mother who addicted drugs and their family don't look to them she will left her children and give other to adopt.
DeleteIn a pregnant woman who addicted drugs or alcohol, her might be different to others babies. Most drug or medicine are affect to the baby's brain, after baby was born the baby can get a mental illness, or parts of their body because the brain can control lots of body parts. If some parts of the brain is dead, it effect to the body.
ReplyDeleteIf a pregnant woman is addicting to the alcohol or drugs, this will make the unborn cannot develop their organs effectively and successfully. The unborn may die inside his/her mother unless he/she does not have complete organs. As the larvae develops their organisms while the mother is pregnant, they cannot receive full nutrients.
ReplyDelete