Help! My brother's girlfriend is pregnant and drinking all the time!

[OhioAunt]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Hi my brothers unstable girlfriend is pregnant, and has been drinking nonstop, has been to the ER because of being "out of it" and reported shooting up heroine...obviously my brother is completely furious that she isn't taking care of his baby or herself. She has scheduled 2 appts to have an abortion and cancelled both of them. He is concerned that she will get to the point where she has to go full term, and then he will be taking care of a severly damaged child. He has tried several times to get her into rehab, taken her to ER for them to get her back on track with her meds (she is diagnosed as bipolar). She stops taking her meds, drinks and smokes and does who knows what else.
DOe she have any options? Where can he go to get someone to step in with her? No one seems to know where to point him, he would carry the baby if he could..but clearly that's not physically possible! I feel helpless and don't know where to turn for advice! ANY suggestions will help! THANKS an Ohio Aunt

[Proserpina]

Originally Posted by OhioAunt

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Hi my brothers unstable girlfriend is pregnant, and has been drinking nonstop,

No she has not. Doing so is physically impossible.

has been to the ER because of being "out of it" and reported shooting up heroine...obviously my brother is completely furious that she isn't taking care of his baby or herself.

This is tricky - there is no baby yet and your brother is not a father yet...

She has scheduled 2 appts to have an abortion and cancelled both of them.

She is permitted to do that.

He is concerned that she will get to the point where she has to go full term, and then he will be taking care of a severly damaged child. He has tried several times to get her into rehab, taken her to ER for them to get her back on track with her meds (she is diagnosed as bipolar). She stops taking her meds, drinks and smokes and does who knows what else.

I'm going to defer to the Ohio Attorney/GAL as this one may be a little ambiguous; Ohio has filed charges for endangering an unborn child (such as this [url=http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/504342.html]Woman Arrested for Endangering Her Unborn Child - News, Sports, Jobs - The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register[/url] ).

[OhioAunt]

Originally Posted by OhioAunt

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Hi my brothers unstable girlfriend is pregnant, and has been drinking nonstop, has been to the ER because of being "out of it" and reported shooting up heroine...obviously my brother is completely furious that she isn't taking care of his baby or herself. She has scheduled 2 appts to have an abortion and cancelled both of them. He is concerned that she will get to the point where she has to go full term, and then he will be taking care of a severly damaged child. He has tried several times to get her into rehab, taken her to ER for them to get her back on track with her meds (she is diagnosed as bipolar). She stops taking her meds, drinks and smokes and does who knows what else.
DOe she have any options? Where can he go to get someone to step in with her? No one seems to know where to point him, he would carry the baby if he could..but clearly that's not physically possible! I feel helpless and don't know where to turn for advice! ANY suggestions will help! THANKS an Ohio Aunt

Ok, I have a terrible feeling about all of it! I will definately be looking into endangering an unborn fetus/child...RIGHT AWAY! This poor baby has been through some tough stuff already! THANKS I hadnt thought of that route!
He has had to call EMS and the Police on 2 occasions and I am wondering why they didn't think of that....THANKS THOUGH!

[FarmerJ]

It is possible to call the county social services and make a report about pregnant female who is drinking alot and may be using other substances. It is already possible that this unborn child may already be set up for FAS and other developemental disability. ( I work for a group home firm that houses DD adults, there are a number of younger clients , under age 35, who have/had bio moms who were drinkers) it is unfortunate for the unborn when its mom uses. Call social services, perhaps they can indeed do something if not now then likely they may step in at birth.
suggestion: sit the father down and talk to him about establishing paternity and a plan of action should the birth mom opt to carry full term so he can make plans to become involved in the childs life and if needed, to explore what options there are incase birth mom gets custody taken away from her.