Caption: Ester, today at age 3, was abandoned by crack-addict parents

when she was a 15-day-old baby.

A New Beginning for Children of Crack
Children with addicted parents are the majority in Brazilian shelters,
and among them, the majority are born of crack. Abandoned at birth or
removed from their familys guardianship, they need to fight for their
life since they are in the womb -- and then hope to find a home. Check
out the stories of those who defeated prejudice by adopting boys and
girls in these conditions, and a woman who overcame addiction to care
for her baby.
Reporting Maria Clara Vieira/Photography Guilherme Zauith/Editora
Globo
It was 3 a.m. when the phone rang in Ilha do Governador, Rio de
Janeiro, at the house of Djalma Gusmo Silveira Jnior, 50 years old,
telecommunications technician. He answered. On the other end, a call
for help: a baby, just 15 days old, had been thrown out of the window
of the house where she lived with her crack-addicted parents in the
Morro do Barbante community, a few minutes away. The two left the
scene. The neighbors were the ones who called. Djalma and his wife at
the time, Monica, had done social work in the region for more than 10
years, through the evangelical church they attended. So they kept in
touch with families there. They rushed to help the newborn, Ester. The
child was taken to the nearest emergency unit, where she received the
necessary care. When she saw the bruise on the babys head, the
social worker asked what had happened. The couple explained that
they knew the child's parents, and they were drug users. Given the
seriousness of the situation, the incident was reported immediately to
the Juvenile Court.
Esters case, unfortunately, is not an exception. Drug dependence and
parental neglect are the main causes of loss of custody in Brazil. In
2013, 81 percent of children staying in shelters happened for these
reasons, according to the survey of the National Council of the Public
Ministry (CNMP, in Portuguese). Also on the list are abandonment (78
percent) and domestic violence (57 percent), among many other
problems.
There are now 45,237 children and adolescents living in these
institutions in Brazil, according to the National Register of Foster
Children. They do not disclose how many of them have drug users as
parents, but the professionals involved with assisting them are
unequivocal that they are the majority both in shelters and in the

adoption queue. "The reasons for sheltering the children are mixed.
The fact that parents use drugs alone does not lead to loss of custody.
But that is usually associated with lack of care and abuse. In this
scenario, crack is a drug that destroys the capacity for self-control of
the guardian the most and leads to acts of violence," explained Antonio
Carlos Nunes Ozrio, prosecutor of CNMPs Children and Youth
Commission.
The Adoption Process
Ester was well and, after two days, she was able to leave the hospital.
The couple, then, wanted to keep the baby. "We were directed to the
Court at 11 a.m., where we awaited the judicial decision, which came
out at 8 p.m.," recalls Djalma. The guardianship of the biological
parents was suspended temporarily and passed to them -- and not just
Esters guardianship but her siblings too: Pietro, who was 1 year old,
and the twins, Isabelly and Isadora, 4 years old. Djalma and Monica,
who followed the trajectory of the family, saw the birth mother
pregnant with four babies, between long disappearances and brief
reappearances, but always very weakened by dependence. "The Court
understood that we were to take care of them provisionally because we
had the means and they had no more family, no one else," he says.
Thus began the adoption process.
After four months, Monica had a devastating heart attack and died. But
Djalma did not give up adopting the children. "I took the
documentation and decided I would continue with the process. It took
almost three years. I got definitive custody a few months ago. "In the
meantime, I found a new partner, a businesswoman called Fanny, who
completely took over raising the four at his side. The children call them
mom and dad, but they know their story.
Today, Esther is 3 years old, Pietro, 4, and Isabelly and Isadora, the
twins, 8. All are growing healthy, without the after-effects of crack
consumption, and have a lot of energy. "I get up every day at 6 am.
Our routine is crazy. I take the kids to school and when I come home at
night, I help them in their studies. I only stop after 9 p.m. when they go
to sleep," says the tireless Djalma, who was already the father of four
biological children ages 17, 20, 25 and 27. "I never imagined being a
father of four children again. These things happen and we cannot
predict. They give me a lot of happiness," he says.
ACCORDING TO A FIOCRUZ RESEARCH, 78,000 WOMEN ARE CRACK
USERS IN BRAZIL.

Caption: A few months ago, Djalma got permanent custody of Ester

and her three siblings, Pietro, Isabelly and Isadora. The children call
him and his wife, Fanny, dad and mom.
Caption: Employee feeding a baby at the Social Reinsertion Unit Ana
Carolina, in Rio de Janeiro. Last year, the shelter received 61 babies
and children up to age 4 of crack-addicted parents.
WOMEN AND DRUGS
The cracklands, open-air sites where crack is purchased and
consumed, are no longer exclusive to large cities. Drug use has spread,
covering the whole national territory like wildfire. From north to south
to very small towns like Cant, in Roraima state, with about 15,000
inhabitants, and Miragua, in Rio Grande do Sul state, under 5,000,
claim to have high level of problems related to crack, according to the
National Confederation of Municipalities.
Box: The number of children born from crack-addicted mothers at
Shelter Ana Carolina (Rio de Janeiro) reached 90 percent.
Its more common to see men smoking the drug, but women are also
there. It is estimated that they represent 21 percent of the 370,000
crack users in Brazil. The numbers are from the National Study on the
Use of Crack conducted in 2013 by the Ministry of Health and the
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). Most of them live in the streets and
pay up to R$10 (US$3.18) for a stone. To afford it, they take on
sporadic jobs, beg on the street, borrow from their families, steal, rob
and prostitute themselves.
It is in this sad and degrading scenario created by the addiction where
many babies are made. Although the ministry has distributed free
condoms and other contraceptive methods in the health centers,
pregnancies happen. "Women who use crack are the most vulnerable
among the vulnerable. We know that 50 percent of them become
pregnant at least once during the regular use of the drug," says Vitore
Maximiano, national secretary in the drug policy division of the Ministry
of Justice.
That is what happened to Vnia Silva Castro, age 28. She began using
cocaine at 16 and, at 24, discovered crack. "I got to get married in
Paran state, but my husband couldnt stand my addiction. So I packed
my things and traveled to So Paulo. I stopped first at the S Cathedral
Square and there I stayed using crack. I smoked at least 10 stones a
day. Then my belly started to grow. I didnt know I had left Paran

pregnant," she recalls. She says she did not eat hardly anything at the
time and took what was left on the ground after street fairs.
To overcome the addiction and prevent the baby from being taken from
her care, Vnia, still pregnant, agreed to be admitted at Lacan Hospital,
in So Bernardo do Campo (So Paulo state), which is a private
institution contracted by the State Secretary of Health. There, she
received treatment for four months. After recovering, she gave birth to
Davi, now 6 months. "I think without God and without the support of
the people, I could not have done it. I think about living in the future
with my two other sons, Cristiano, 10, and Kevin, 7, who live with
relatives. I am very happy now. The change in my life was very big,"
she proclaims, as she now lives with an aunt in So Vicente (So Paulo
state).
A HOME FOR THOSE WHO NEED
Not all women can recover like Vnia. Many are defeated by the drug
and return to the streets, leaving their children to be sent to shelters.
In the first instance, the court tries to reinsert the children with other
family members or with the parents themselves if they accept to
receive treatment. Only when there is no prospect of reintegration do
they enter the adoption queue.
Despite the addiction, most mothers do not abandon the newborns. "Of
the 65 addicts who gave birth in our hospital in 2013, only two were
gone and left the babies. In 2014, there was no such case," says Tania
Lucena, social worker at the Maternity Hospital Leonor Mendes de
Barros, on the east zone of So Paulo, where many addicts in labor are
sent. She says her experience in the birth center demystifies the idea
that they leave their babies after the birth. "On the contrary, mothers,
even if they are very debilitated, do not want to leave without their
children and react aggressively to this possibility," she says.
On the other hand, if these women continue to consume drugs in ways
that impacts child rearing, the court may refer the children to shelters.
In the shelter Ana Carolina, for example, located in Ramos, north of Rio
de Janeiro, the numbers are seasonal, but up to 90 percent of the
children were from crack-addicted mothers. In 2014 alone, the shelter
hosted 61 babies and children up to 4 years old in this condition.
Fortunately, 25 of them were reintegrated into their family of origin
and another 25 were adopted. In Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais state),
where about 600 children live in shelters, 158 babies were taken from
their mothers custody in 2014 because of crack use.
"Crack causes damage to all of the users body organs. The brain may
suffer atrophy," explains Hewdy Lobo, psychiatrist and clinical director

of the Lacan Hospital in So Paulo. For the baby, the risks include low
fetal growth and malformations. According to the doctor, there is no
evidence that there is permanent damage to the children.
CRACK USERS
79 percent men 21 percent women
PROFILE OF CRACK-ADDICTED WOMEN IN BRAZIL
92 percent do not have AIDS
77 percent want treatment
64 percent never got arrested
68 percent are between ages 18 and 29
54 percent are single
50 PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO USE CRACK GET PREGNANT AT LEAST
ONCE DURING REGULAR USE OF THE DRUG
THEY ALSO USE:
85 percent tobacco
64 percent alcohol
54 percent marijuana
SOURCE: National Study about the Use of Crack (Fiocruz)
When the children are little, they often need immediate psychological
attention and require pediatric care for possible infectious diseases.
Lobo also explains that chemical dependence is caused in part by
genetic inheritance. Therefore, biological children of addicts need more
preventive care against drugs.
ENDLESS LOVE
Despite knowing all that, biologist Valeria Postiglione, 35, and her
husband, Bruno, opened their arms and hearts and gave an example of
love when they adopted a child whose biological parents were drug
users. "When we filled out the profile of the child we wanted, we did
not see this fact as an obstacle. Our daughter came from the central
region of So Paulo. We know her mother was a user of crack and other
drugs, didnt have prenatal care and left the baby at the hospital where
she gave birth," says Valeria, who has diabetes and chose not to
become pregnant.
When applying for the adoption queue, one must fill out a form
indicating the sought child's profile: race, age, sex, siblings etc. It is
also necessary to inform whether the child may be a carrier of a
disease or have biological parents who are drug users. By accepting
the most possibilities, the chances of getting a child increase a lot.

"More and more, people are aware of this issue. Thus, the adoption
process occurs faster than when they idealize a particular baby who
does not exist. Remember that life is uncertain, even biological
children are uncertain we never know how they will turn out," says
Judge Dora Martins of the Central Childhood and Youth Court of So
Paulo. She emphasizes that it is necessary to accept the past of a child
and its pointless to try to erase it. "Even a baby should have his
history preserved, he is entitled to it. You cant erase everything and
start from scratch."
Of the more than 45,000 boys and girls in shelters in Brazil, only 5,620
are considered fit to be adopted, according to the National Adoption
Register. "Many of the foster children return to their biological families
when possible," explains prosecutor Antonio Nunes. The list with those
who wish to adopt has 32,854 applicants, which is considered to be a
high number. But the number of children in line decreases slowly
because many of the majority of prospective parents want a specific
profile. "Many seek a baby up to 6 months old who is a girl and white.
The person who wants to adopt has to understand that its hard to
work with an ideal that does not exist," says Judge Dora Martins.
Just over a year after the start of the adoption process, Valeria and
Bruno received the long-awaited appointment of whom they might
adopt. "We believe that the environment and the love you give to the
child transform her future. Clarice arrived when she was 7 months old
and adapted very well," says the happy mother. The girl is now 10
months old. "Sometimes I think she may not have been born from me,
but surely was born for me. It is a love that you cannot explain. We
want to adopt two more."
THE RISKS FOR THE CHILD
WHAT IS ITT?
Crack is derived from cocaine, marketed as stone and smoked in a
pipe. It acts on the brain quickly and intensely. Crack users may
develop dependency after a few times. According to the World Health
Organization, its consumption has become a public health issue in the
world as it causes increased violence, spread of infectious diseases and
fetal exposure to its chemical makeup.
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS ON BABIES?
There is no clear scientific knowledge about the consequences for
children, says psychiatrist Hewdy Lobo, clinical director of the Lacan
Hospital in So Paulo. Children of crack-addicted parents require more
care because they are usually born premature and with breathing

problems. That is also associated with the mothers lifestyle: they do

not eat well, live in precarious conditions, are exposed to sexually
transmitted diseases and do not receive prenatal care. Some babies
suffer from withdrawal if the woman used crack throughout the entire
pregnancy. The process includes tremors and usually goes away a few
hours after birth. "You cannot say that children will have severe
permanent damage. Many after-effects can come from alcohol and
tobacco, which are also used by these women. It harms the family and
financially the most, because the user cannot have a normal social
life," says psychiatrist Patricia Hochgraf, coordinator of the Chemically
Dependent Women Program at the Institute of Psychiatry at the
University of So Paulo Hospital.
AND WHEN A CHILD IS DEPENDENT?
It is common for children who live with addict parents to end up trying
the substance and become addicted themselves -- inhaling the smoke
from the parents is not harmful. The treatment should be done with
experts and, if possible, without the use of drugs. Severe cases call for
hospitalization for detoxing. The good news is children arent
frequently present in drug consumption sites, according to the Fiocruz
National Study on the Use of Crack.
HOW TO DEAL WITH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SIDE AND THE CHILDRENS
MEMORY?
Their past should not be erased, but parents dont need tell everything
all at once. "There is no need to anticipate the facts if the child does
not ask. The best thing is to wait and, as demands arise, the adoptive
parents answer the questions. Each case is different," explains Regina
Clia Veiga da Fonseca, psychologist and professor at Faculdades
Pequeno Prncipe (Paran state). If the child had contact with the drugaddict family and has memories of them, it is necessary to make her
understand that these people were sick and she should not feel guilty
about what she witnessed, such as situations of violence. "With love
and attention, you can overcome. Man has the resilience to pass
through adversity. Psychologists and the school can also help in this
task," says Regina.
Caption: Valria and Bruno with daughter Clarice, adopted at the end
of last year when she was 7 months old. The biological mother was a
crack user and abandoned the baby at the hospital. The couple still
wants to adopt two more children.