Robert M. Bersi

Raising Margaret Ann Robert M. Bersi

This book fulfills a father's promise to his daughter that he would someday write of their struggle with what came to be known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Children so unnecessarily disabled are condemned to endure a purgatory of failures as they struggle to meet the expectations of family, peers, school, and society. This account reflects Margaret's choice of whom and what she deemed to be meaningful inclusions in a story based upon her challenged childhood. It is as much a tale of love and laughter, as it is of loneliness and disappointment. In 1970, a young university professor is granted custody of his infant female daughter. The ensuing 18 years unfold as a heart-wrenching, yet inspiring story. The writer describes the small victories and tearful disappointments which marked their determined journey. Today in the United States, at least one in every hundred children born each year is afflicted with FASD. Their physical and mental defects are irreversible and persist for a lifetime.