BORN DEPENDENT ON DRUGS - 'These Kids Are Unbelievable Resilient'

FOR 25 YEARS A GROWING NUMBER OF BABIES HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO OPIOIDS IN THE WOMB. AS THEY GET OLDER, THEY NAVIGATE UNIQUE CHALLENGES

- ALEXANDRA ROCKEY FLEMING

Even as a little girl growing up in Massachusetts, Sophie Perry-Stewart knew she was different. Routine hygiene tasks such as showering overwhelmed her. She exploded in tantrums over seemingly small matters like getting dressed.

Biting a preschool classmate resulted in her expulsion. "I was always trying my best to fit in," the 23-year-old says, "but I could never make the pieces work together." In context it's understandable: Like a growing number of people in the U.S., Sophie has neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, which occurs when a fetus is exposed in the womb to opioids and is born dependent on those substances.

(Sophie's mom, Meghann Perry, 51, now in long-term recovery, had struggled with heroin addiction and was using methadone during her pregnancy.)

The resulting constellation of short- and long-term symptoms can range from hyperactivity to sensory or mood issues and developmental delays, though every person NAS navigates their own obstacles.

"I have a really with hard time connecting with people-that's something I still struggle with," Sophie says. "And emotional regulation is a big one." More and more Americans are facing these challenges. While there is no comprehensive national number, studies indicate NAS diagnoses have increased from about one out of every 1,000 births, in 1999, to more than six out of every 1,000 or 59 babies each day-according to 2020 data cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.