Abbigail Blackwood
Abbigail is a 21-year-old woman diagnosed with FAS and ADHD. A friend of her family is her legal guardian until she turns 26, when she will become her own guardian. Abbigail’s family includes her mom, dad, and two older sisters; however, she is not very close to her sisters, who have their own families. She lives in a mid-size city in Alberta with her fiancé, who also is disabled. As a part of her day program, she works at a bottle recycling depot. Abbigail spent most of her childhood in foster care and says her early life lacked stability, as she often changed foster families and schools. Abbigail had sex education classes in the 5th grade, and the classes were separated by gender, so she did not find it very useful. Later, she attended sex education classes in the 8th grade, and this time girls attended the classes together with boys, which she found more helpful. She had her first sexual relationship when she was in high school. Abbigail has been using multiple birth control methods since she was 14-years-old (Depo Provera, birth control pills, and a contraceptive patch), but this was not her choice; it was and still is a decision made by her guardian. She has been living with her boyfriend for the last 5 months, and they are planning to get married next year. It seems that Abbigail is struggling to obtain control over her life, and she speaks of her guardian with ambiguity. Abbigail is hoping to have a child with her current partner once she is released from her guardianship and can cease using birth control. Because of different people and agencies interfering in her personal life, she sees motherhood as a way of claiming adulthood, and is hoping that having a child will make her more responsible.