By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
It's a full house for Denise Nazepa, with three of her many
children. Nazepa and her husband, Frank, have cared for 49
adopted and foster children in 11 years. Most of the boys
and girls were from substance abuse backgrounds.
Children born to substance
By Helen Altonn
abusers are receiving tender,
loving care from an island couple
Star-BulletinAlisha didn't have the best start in life, born to a substance abuser who was 13 years old.
That shaped her attitude toward drug use, especially by pregnant women: "Pretty stupid."
"They don't know what they're doing to kids," says Alisha, now 12. "And some just go do it again."
Her birth mother is in Texas, her dad is in prison, and a younger sister is in a residential treatment center in Oregon.
Alisha, though, is thriving with loving parents -- Denise and Frank Nazepa -- and a comfortable, boisterous home full of adopted and foster children.
Problems faced by Alisha and her foster family, which cares for drug babies, will be aired today through Saturday at the Perinatal Conference at the Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel.
The Nazepas have cared for 49 children in 11 years. Most of the children were from substance abuse backgrounds -- neglected, abused, abandoned, pregnant, drug-affected.
The couple have been Alisha's guardians since she was 4. They adopted Erin, 8; Cari, who will be 13 in June; and Quinn, who will be 2 in June.
They usually have five foster children. Two recently were picked up, leaving three who are 4 months old, 2 and 2 years old.
They call all the children "chosen ones," said Denise Nazepa.
Even Toby, the family's cocker spaniel, was an orphan they found on the street, the children said.
Pictures taken over the years of kids of varied ethnic backgrounds are prominently displayed in the Nazepa home.
They tell a story of happy times: children playing and posing with the family, Santa Claus, Easter bunnies and classmates. Most of the kids remain in contact with their foster family, Nazepa said.
Erin was a private adoption, the couple's first. The others were adopted through the state Human Services Department.
Quinn, the last, has been with the family since he was 4 weeks old. He tested positive in the hospital for PCP ("angel dust"), marijuana and crystal methamphetamine ("ice"), Nazepa said.
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Foster parent Denise Nazepa is proud of all of her children,
and she displays lots of photographs of them.
She discussed the difficulties and joys of caring for special-needs children while feeding and cuddling the baby, picking up a child from therapy, checking on kids romping outside and attending to two daughters home sick from school.Like other substance-abuse babies, Quinn has multiple health defects: asthma and upper respiratory problems and poor sucking skills that require oral stimulation.
He weighed 5 pounds at birth and was still 5 pounds at three weeks, Nazepa said. "It took extra stimulation to get him motivated. In his case, and a lot of cases, you're not able to get eye contact with them."
Quinn has received a lot of therapy, massage and "consoling for screaming," she said. He didn't walk for 14 months. He still doesn't walk -- he runs, she said.
"Isn't he a doll?" Nazepa said, watching him in action. "He wasn't when we got him. He was the ugliest thing. His leg was only the size of my finger at three weeks.
"He was failing to thrive. He was shutting down."
Because of a caring environment and rehabilitation services, she said Quinn "came along fast."
Drug babies "require a lot of holding, consoling and swaddling," Nazepa said. "It makes a big, big difference."
Nazepa has two birth sons, 22 and 20, by a previous marriage. They're doing construction work in Alaska but came home in October for Quinn's adoption.
She doesn't believe there is enough information yet about the long-term effects of drug abuse by pregnant women on their babies.
"Not only are they affected by drugs and alcohol, but most are not getting prenatal care," she pointed out. "After being pregnant twice in my life, I can't imagine that. That was the healthiest time of my life."
From her experience, she said, "A lot of these (drug babies) are labeled bad kids in school" when they have drug-related health problems.
For instance, she said, "Sometimes they can't get it -- things like cause and effect. ... Discipline is different. You have to have the patience of a saint."
Uppermost, she said, is a sense of humor.
Nazepa said she and her husband were "doing a hanai situation" after they were married and people talked to them about foster care. "We have such a big house and always wanted a big family."
Now vice president of the Hawaii Foster Parents Association, she said each substance abuse child is different and requires special attention.
"Just because someone takes a class, it's not going to qualify them," she said. She'd like to see people ease into caring for such children by providing "respite care for those of us that need a break."
She said public health nurses and others in the field are "wonderful," but "it takes a real long time to get services connected.
"The unfortunate part, in the school age, is the differences of teachers," she noted. Some want a label, evaluation and services for a child, and others don't, she said.
Nazepa goes once a year to upstate New York to visit her family, and she and her husband take the kids on a winter vacation every year. Last year they went to Lake Tahoe for skiing, along with two foster kids in their care.
"It created a real neat memory for them," she said. "That's our goal for them -- to create something memorable."
At 3 or 4 years old, many have never had a birthday party or an Easter celebration, she said. "They don't know how to do it."
Along with memories of good times, every foster child leaves the Nazepa home with a photo album and guardian angel pin.
Alisha said she had to stay home during family vacations the past two years because of bad grades. But she's looking forward to a monthlong reunion with her sister on the Big Island, which Nazepa is arranging with the sister's therapist.
Alisha said her grades are up.
"She works on her attitude on a daily basis," her mom said, adding that Alisha also has some problems resulting from her birth-mother's substance abuse.
But the willowy girl said she's striving to finish high school and get a basketball scholarship to the University of Hawaii. She wants to become either a professional basketball player or a veterinarian, she said.
Though it's a tough job caring for drug babies, Nazepa said, "The rewards are when you see them responding to all the nurturing, care and therapy involved."
The oldest of their foster children is 23, a recent University of California graduate. She is going back to school as a graduate student and is considering starting her own business, Nazepa said.
"It becomes an even balance," she said. "Otherwise, we couldn't do it."
The impact of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drug use on pregnancies: Severe impact
Tobacco
Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of a low birth-weight baby.
Alcohol
Other drug use
Source: March of Dimes
A growing problem of substance abuse by pregnant women will be addressed at the 1999 Pacific Rim Perinatal Conference today through Saturday at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. Forum focuses on
pregnant drug usersDr. Ira Chasnoff, University of Illinois pediatrics professor and president of the Children's Research Triangle, will be a key speaker.
The event's sponsors are the March of Dimes, Chapter of the Pacific, and the Hawaii Consortium for Continuing Medical Education.
Dr. James B. MacMillian, a Honolulu authority in the field of obstetrics and substance abuse, said "fetuses are being damaged in utero from 'ice' (crystal methamphetamine) use. Sometimes the damage may be profound, sometimes subtle."
He said some pregnancies are lost because of "ice" use.
Physicians, substance abuse counselors, nurses, teachers, foster parents and community outreach workers are invited to the conference.
Chasnoff said it's a "must attend" conference for anyone involved in the prevention and treatment of alcohol, tobacco and drug use before and during pregnancy or who is interested in the healthy development of mothers, children and families.
For more information, call the March of Dimes at 536-1045.
