Former alcoholic Clare Newton’s story about how she has decided not to have children appeared in the DAILY MAIL newspaper… 
If you have had an addiction to drink, could your children grow up the same as you? This was the fascinating dilemma for one young woman that formed the basis of a feature in the Daily Mail’s Life&Style …
Clare first emailed sister site Featureworld because she wanted to raise awareness of alcoholism. But talking with her it soon transpired that her parents and grandparents suffered from drink problems and she believed the condition could be in the genes.
Clare grew up in her parents’ hotel where drink flowed liberally – in fact, she grew up believing alcohol was a normal and important part of life. And she was only 12 when she had her first sips.
But although it appalled her to see her parents worse for wear, by her late teens she herself had succumbed until finally ten years later she woke one day in a terrible state and realised she simply could not carry on.
It was then she picked up the phone and rang Alcoholics Anonymous. She has since met Wayne and they now run a guesthouse in Spain.
However, although the pair are now set to wed, Clare, who has been dry for five years, has made the life-changing decision not to have a baby. She is worried about passing on a gene for alcoholism and feels it would be selfish for her to have a child.
It does appear Clare could be right. Various research shows that children of alcoholics are ironically more at risk of becoming alcoholics themselves. And this article quoted doctors and studies into this.
Featureworld is now negotiating further publicity for Clare, who also wants to show that there is life after alcoholism.
Do you have a story to tell about addiction – perhaps to alcohol or something else? If so, and if you would like your story to appear in a newspaper such as the Daily Mail contact Featureworld here: Selling a story.
