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Dr. Claire Coles remembers the public outcry and the expert predictions for babies born to crack-addicted mothers in the late 80s and early 90s.
“They talked about the bio-underclass and how this child was doomed for life,” says Dr. Coles. “Children who were cocaine-exposed were never going to be able to have normal emotional relationships. The other prediction was morality — that these children couldn’t understand the concepts of morality.”
Coles, a developmental psychologist and Emory University researcher on maternal substance abuse, rejected those claims even during the height of the crack epidemic.
“People were projecting into the future about what was going to happen, without any basis or knowledge,” says Coles.”
Flash-forward more than a decade later. Based on new research, it appears that the experts, the media and the public were wrong about so-called “crack babies.”
Brittany, a middle-school student, is living proof. Thirteen years ago, she was born to a crack-addicted mother and adopted two days later by Zina Age. Until now, she had no idea what a crack baby was.
“No. I never heard of it,” says Brittany. Her adopted mother never used those words. Why?
“Crack cocaine was irrelevant to what she was or was not going be,” says Age.
During the cocaine epidemic, many experts predicted that children exposed to cocaine in the womb would suffer lasting developmental impairment. A new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association following cocaine-exposed children to the age of four years old found that IQ scores were similar to children who had not been exposed to the drug. There were, however, some cognitive problems.
In a separate study from the Journal Pediatrics, researchers concluded that “ infant prenatal exposure to cocaine and opiates was not associated with mental, motor or behavioral deficits.”
According to these studies, exposure to crack cocaine doesn’t necessarily result in a lifetime of problems for children. With love and care, many of these children will grow up healthy, with normal lives. The home environment, it turns out, is a key component of their success or failure.
“There are real problems that occur in children whose mothers use cocaine, and we need to be able to deal with them,” says Dr. Coles, “but there is no known syndrome, there is no set of characteristics that these children have, there is just no such thing as a “crack baby.”
Brittany is growing up in a loving and supportive environment. She is also making good progress in school, with mostly A’ and B’s on her recent report card. Her mother is not only proud of her, but inspired by her. She began a non-profit agency called ANIZ, Inc., aimed at helping children who are affected by drug and AIDS-related family issues. It’s all in her daughter’s honor.
“Brittany is a very beautiful child,” says Age. “She listens, she follows, she’s good. She’s a child that you would want.”
Brittany’s message is simple. ”Just know that I’m not different than anyone else. When I get older, I think that I can do whatever I want.”
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