Judge orders drug-addicted prostitute mother to avoid having kids

ROCHESTER, NY (KTRK) -- A New York mother struggling with drug addiction has been placed under a court order to avoid getting pregnant.

According to 13WHAM, the mother, a prostitute referred to as Brandy F. in court documents, had already been stripped of custody of her four children due to neglect.

Judge Patricia Gallaher, a Monroe County family court judge, handed down the order requiring that she regain custody of her infant son before conceiving any other children.

The judge -- who issued the order December 27 -- has since retired. In her order she noted an uptick in cases coming before the court that involved heroin addiction.

"This court has seen about a half dozen seemingly 'nice couples' show up as respondents in neglect cases where both are addicted to heroin and literally throwing their lives away -- and the lives of their children - in just this year," Gallaher wrote.

While the judge specified that she did not expect that the woman would face jail time if she failed to comply with the order -- it's not clear what would happen in those circumstances. The case is not the first time a judge has tested constitutional boundaries by attempting to limit a person's right to bear children.