Yet, throughout this courtship and marriage, even with a newfound home and another baby on the way, Ms Sabrina remained caught in the grip of addiction.
By then, she had become dependent on Subutex, an oral medication prescribed by her doctor to help heroin users manage withdrawal symptoms. In the early 2000s, the drug was widely available through private clinics in Singapore before buprenorphine, its active ingredient, was classified as a controlled drug in 2006 amid widespread abuse.
Enabled by friends, she continued to abuse Subutex even during her pregnancy, despite her husband’s repeated attempts to get her to stop.
Eventually, when Ms Sabrina gave birth, her newborn daughter was handed over to her brother-in-law’s family, where she would remain for much of her childhood.
“I did feel sad. I wanted to see my children. But … I also thought that I still needed my drugs, so I kind of just brushed it off.”
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