""I wanted my daughter," Poon said softly, "so I had her." At 20 years old, Poon gave birth on May 8, 1980, just before Mother's Day, in the jail ward of the county hospital. Her little girl, who she named Sabrina, was premature and drug addicted, and went straight to an incubator. Soon after, Poon lost her child to the foster care system."
""They said, 'Oh, she's been adopted,'" Poon said. "That screwed me up. I was depressed and didn't even know I was depressed. Didn't take no medication.""
""For a long time she was like a dual-diagnosis case," said Swan, who noted that mental illness, like alcoholism, also runs in the family. "It just went unmanaged.""
Poon experienced severe trauma after losing her daughter, Sabrina, to the foster care system shortly after giving birth while incarcerated. This loss led to depression and cycles of mania and psychosis, which went unmanaged for years. Poon struggled with homelessness and substance abuse, while her sister, Rosemary Swan, attempted to support her and track her journey. The core trauma of losing her daughter remained a constant theme in Poon's life, affecting her mental health and relationships.
Read at Kqed
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