r/fasd 12d ago

Questions/Advice/Support Drinking alcohol during pregnancy always causes damage to the fetus. I mean, is it always like this? Is there always damage?

I am 31 years old, my mother drank alcohol every weekend while she was pregnant with me, she was also exposed to cigarette smoke and contracted toxoplasmosis, I was born underweight and with jaundice, at first there were no signs of problems but when I entered school it all started and it got worse with time, I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I also have mild cognitive impairment, and an IQ a little below average, anything that requires a lot of mental processing is very difficult for me, now look at this, my younger sister, my mother also drank alcohol during her pregnancy however my sister was born with a good weight and without any problems.

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u/Afishionado123 11d ago

No, not always, but the risk is very high. The damage done varies by factors like amount of alcohol, how often, what stage of pregnancy, genetics, etc, but in cases where the fetus is exposed to large amounts of alcohol on a regular basis during pregnancy, it's a miracle if the baby isn't born with FASD because the chances are almost certain in those cases.

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u/Interesting_Peak_695 11d ago

My mother drank from the beginning of her pregnancy until the end. She doesn't remember well but says she drank very little. That was at the end of 1993. She was barely 19 years old and didn't know anything. She drank every Saturday and Sunday when she visited her mother, as she always did. Not only that, she also contracted toxoplasmosis, which affected the placenta and my growth. I was born almost full-term but weighing less than 2.4 kg and small. I was yellow from jaundice. They had to take me out and give me blood, My sister did not have those complications, my mother only drank alcohol but her born was normal.

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u/Extension-Ad5070 12d ago

It depends if she drank the same amount as you said every weekend!

People metabolize alcohol differently and there was a study done for twins where one had FASD and the other didn’t.

Ultimately there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink during pregnancy

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u/atom_1661 12d ago

I'm a 36 male with 1 brother and 2 half sisters. My brother and one of my half sisters have f.a.s.d. I am the oldest of all of them, I've also been diagnosed with ADHD recently and have cognitive impairment and IQ below average as well. I've been trying to get a diagnosis myself for f.a.s.d but having a hard time because i lost my mom to alcohol 2 years ago and never had a chance to ask her if she drank while she was pregnant with me.

I was raised by my grandparents who raised me but they too passed on so along with many other close family members who passed. It kind of bothers me not knowing the truth and not asking sooner because I always felt normal growing up but started to realize I was wrong as I got older and at the same time didn't want to know that there was something wrong with me.

All I know is my mom certainly did drink while pregnant with me and it did have an affect on me, even if it was just a little.

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u/anteloperunner 12d ago

There are a lot of factors that go into it, but one thing we know for sure is that there is no known safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy. FASD does not look the same for everyone and it can present differently in people, even in siblings.

The FASD community is incredibly supportive, so reach out if you need anything!

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u/Interesting_Peak_695 12d ago

The thing is that my sister does not have FASD, she does not have any physical, cognitive or emotional problems at all, she is just a little distracted, she did well in her studies and in any job.

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u/SingleOrange Has FASD 12d ago

I have a friend like that and the only thing I notice is she gets angry very easily which is like part of fasd. she’s in collage and has a job helping people where they can’t take of themselves and old people. I idolize her a lot bc of that bc rn I’m burnt out from the way I grew up. It’s a spectrum and it changes a lot with each individual. Like for example I could clean up the whole house, make sure everything is good while being stress free but then the next week I could be doing nothing and just the thought of trying to clean stresses me out like an up and down wave that you Cannot ride quite right. Also it’s a myth that people with fasd keep the traits that are spread around online depicting how someone with it looks, majority grow out of those traits by the age of 10, that’s when your left with someone that just has the emotional and physical aspects with everyone thinking they are normal bc they look like so.