The Accomplice

Winner, 2026, International Impact Book Awards in the Health - Internal Medicine Category and the Psychology - Mental Health and Emotional Struggles Category.

Winner, Bronze Medal in the 2023 Readers' Favorite Non-Fiction - Education Category.

Finalist, 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards in 3 categories: Book Cover Design, Caregiving, Miscellaneous.

Finalist, 2022 The Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards in 2 categories: General Non-Fiction, Parenting/Family/Relationships.

Finalist, 2023 Readers' Choice Book Awards.

Finalist, 2023 Readers' Favorite Book Awards.

Natalia looked to me for help, telling the woman that she had a disability, I was her mother, and she needed me to speak on her behalf. The woman, belittling Natalia, told her she didn't look like she had a disability, and she wouldn't allow me to help. Here's how the conversation went:

"Well, honey, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty," Natalia said.

"Well, are you going to have Mommy helping you when you turn twenty-one?"

I jumped in. "So, how old are you?"

"Thirty-five," she said.

"Oh, I see you are wearing glasses. Are you going to take those glasses off when you turn thirty-six?"

The woman called her supervisor. While we were waiting for the supervisor, Natalia said something very thoughtful about her challenges. "Mom, things are hard for me. I need assistance just to get the assistance."

When Melissa Jacobus adopted her children, she believed all her prayers for a family had finally been answered. But while other parents were dealing with the usual challenges that come with raising children, Melissa experienced those challenges tenfold.

The Accomplice follows several years of her life as two of her children, now grown in the eyes of society yet still cloaked in an invisible disability, struggle to survive a world that doesn't understand them, their needs, or their disability. Substance abuse, homelessness, jail time, and worse can be all-too-common outcomes for those impacted by FASD, also known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

As Melissa tries to advocate and safeguard her children from these outcomes, she realizes her ability to help them, and others, is at the mercy of an uninformed society.

The Accomplice is a call to action for the country to acknowledge FASD for what it is-a developmental disability that affects millions-and to help society recognize that this "invisible" disability is more than visible, it's a crisis.

Melissa Jacobus has been advocating for her adopted children and the rights of all individuals with FASD since 1998. At the national level, she is a parent advocate and member of the Justice Task Force for the FASD United, serves on the Advisory Committee for FASD Communities, and served as a member of the Speakers Bureau for the Centers for Disease Control's Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Southeast Regional Training Center. In 2019, Ms. Jacobus was inducted into FASD United's Tom and Linda Daschle FASD Hall of Fame.Melissa is also active at the state level in Georgia. Among her accomplishments, in 2012, she presented at the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Suicide Prevention Program and the Supreme Court of Georgia's Committee on Justice for Children. In 2013, her work led Governor Deal to designate September 9 as FASD Awareness Day, which has continued under the current governor, Brian Kemp. Melissa co-led the 2018 Atlanta Training on FASD at the State Bar of Georgia.Melissa received a bachelor of science in broadcasting from the University of Florida. She worked for the Tribune Broadcasting Company and was awarded the company's highest honor for customer service before resigning in 1997 to devote herself full time to raising awareness and understanding of FASD. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.