Four teens, one invisible disability, zero easy answers — this doc hits different.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) occur when a pregnant mother consumes an amount of alcohol that is detrimental to the developing fetus. These effects can sometimes be seen in physical appearances and can even manifest in violent tendencies. As these children grow up, the tendencies become more uncontrolled, leading to difficulties fitting into society. This film explores the lives of 4 adolescents with FASDs and the effects that prenatal alcohol exposure has had, and continues to have, on their journeys to finding independence, fulfillment, and understanding the world around them.
Direction
Chasnoff's patient, non-exploitative gaze earns trust.
Production
Rare longitudinal access that took years to build.
Writing
No narrator preaching—just lives unfolding raw.
Director
Gabe Chasnoff
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
FASD remains one of the most stigmatized disabilities because it carries implicit maternal blame—this film quietly dismantles that framework by centering the children's voices, not the mother's 'crime'.
The 56-minute runtime isn't an accident; it was originally commissioned for PBS's POV series, which demanded tight, broadcast-ready cuts—imagine what Chasnoff left on the floor.
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Reactions from the web
I quit drinking and smoking while pregnant, not very hard when u think about a helpless fetus, relying fully on the mother!
@olivedog1880 144
My mother drank 1-2 glasses of red wine while she was pregnant with me in the later stages of her pregnancy with me. Her doctor advised her to drink wine to help with false contractions and to relax her. This was in 1983. Now, I'm 32 years old, and I've had anxiety and avoidance problems since I was a teen. I have struggled a lot with anxiety and agoraphobia, and sometimes I wonder if any of this is related to my mother consuming alcohol while she was pregnant with me, albeit in the later stages of pregnancy. My father blames me for not being "normal."
@shana2712 100
I've now that I have fetal alcohol syndrome since I've 13
@koahgehrmann5222 14
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