Doctors recommend that people with addiction stay on medication-assisted treatment during pregnancy, but positive tests still lead to lost custody.

View in browser ([link removed]) | Support our newsroom ([link removed])
[link removed]


** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, August 31, 2024

Hello! In this issue:
* In many states, pregnant women are being reported to child welfare agencies for taking prescribed addiction-treatment medications—and some are losing custody of their babies.
* A Utah politician adopts a Native child. The family wonders how the government let it happen.

Support deep investigations that change lives. Become a member ([link removed]) .


** THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
------------------------------------------------------------


** They Followed Doctors’ Orders. The State Took Their Babies.
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
Jade Dass in Apache Junction, Ariz., in July 2022. Credit: Ash Ponders for Reveal

Jade Dass was taking medication to treat her addiction to opioids before she became pregnant. Scientific studies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that taking addiction-treatment medications during pregnancy leads to the best outcomes for both mothers and babies. But after Dass delivered a healthy daughter, the hospital reported her to the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

Even as medications like Suboxone help pregnant women safely treat addiction, taking them can trigger investigations by child welfare agencies that separate mothers from their newborns. Why are women like Dass being investigated for using addiction-treatment medications during pregnancy?

To understand the scope of the dragnet, reporter Shoshana Walter, data reporter Melissa Lewis, and a team of Reveal researchers and lawyers filed 100 public records requests, putting together the first-ever tally of how often women are reported to child welfare agencies for taking prescription drugs during pregnancy.

This week on Reveal, in an episode we first aired in July 2023, we follow Dass as she grapples with losing custody of her baby—and makes one last desperate attempt to keep her family together.
Listen to the episode ([link removed])
🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , iHeartRadio ([link removed]) , Pandora ([link removed]) , or wherever you get your podcasts.


**
------------------------------------------------------------
Dip Deeper: Read Walter’s investigation in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine. ([link removed])


**
------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
[link removed]


** A Quote to Remember
------------------------------------------------------------

“And you have to give us a right first to take care of our family. You cannot just take them from us. It's what you are doing.”

In a recording shared with our reporters, Darwyn Fishinghawk reacts to the news that a man outside the family intended to adopt his sister’s youngest child—and that he hoped to adopt the rest of her children, too.
The Fishinghawks are members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe; the adoptive parent is David Leavitt, a non-Native, wealthy Utah lawyer and politician.

The family tells Leavitt they’re worried about the child’s removal from her culture—one of the key reasons the Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted. It’s meant to ensure Native children have a chance to stay with Native families.
On last week’s Reveal, reporters Andrew Becker and Bernice Yeung dug into the story of this complicated and controversial adoption.

Listen: A Baby Adopted, A Family Divided ([link removed])


** In Case You Missed It
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed]
🎧 The Churn ([link removed])
[link removed]
🎧 The COVID Tracking Project ([link removed])
Advertisement
[link removed]
This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kate Howard and edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!

============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
Copyright © 2024 The Center for Investigative Reporting. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up for The Weekly Reveal newsletter.

Our mailing address is:
The Center for Investigative Reporting
PO Box 584
San Francisco, CA 94104
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from all Reveal emails ([link removed])
.