The Woman Who Adopted a Baby Through Facebook

Today's caller, Liz, has one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard on this show. After connecting with a pregnant, homeless woman named Cassandra in a Facebook adoption group, Liz received a single photo of a newborn baby and a message saying that she had been listed as the mother on the baby's birth certificate...with no other explanation. That photo sent her, her sick husband, and her two kids on a six-hour drive to Pittsburgh, where they spent two weeks fighting the state, navigating emergency court hearings, and sitting in a NICU doing skin-to-skin with a baby born addicted to drugs. This episode covers open adoption, neonatal abstinence syndrome, the complicated ethics of intervening in someone else's crisis, and what it looks like to build a family in the most unexpected way imaginable. Sponsors: Clean Simple Eats: Clean Simple Eats is undeniably clean and 100% delicious. Shop the best-tasting protein drinks at CleanSimpleEats.com. Tru Fru: Find it now in the freezer aisle of your grocery store. Cotton: Learn more at TheFabricOfOurLives.com. Magnetic Me: New customers get 15% off sitewide at magneticme.com. Spindrift: Visit drinkspindrift.com and use code lucie for 15% off. Watch this episode in video form on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjmevEcbh5h5FEX0pazPEtN86t7eb2OgX  To apply to be a guest on the show, visit luciefink.com/apply and send us your story.  I also want to extend a special thank you to East Love for the show's theme song, Rolling Stone.  Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealstuffpod  Find Lucie here:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luciebfink/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@luciebfink  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/luciebfink Website: https://luciefink.com/  Subscribe to my free newsletter "The Lucie List" here: https://thelucielist.beehiiv.com/subscribe Executive Producer: Cloud10 Produced by Dear Media. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices