The first time Mariah got pregnant, in 2016, she was 20 years old. She was addicted to heroin and living in motels. When she gave birth at Valley Medical Center in Renton, Child Protective Services told her she couldn’t bring the baby home. Instead, Mariah’s aunt took the baby.
“It was a really hard time,” Mariah said. “[They] took my daughter away. When I was in my addiction, my only way to cope with that was just to dive deeper into my addiction.”
KUOW has agreed not to use Mariah’s last name to protect her children’s identities…