The mother of L. L., a 19-month-old baby girl,1 appeals from the juvenile court’s order terminating her parental rights. The mother contends that 1 there was no clear and convincing evidence to support the juvenile court’s termination of her parental rights; and 2 the juvenile court erred by failing to make a thorough search for relatives to whom the juvenile court could award custody of her child. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. 1. A juvenile court’s termination of parental rights is a two-step process: The first step requires a finding of parental misconduct or inability, which requires clear and convincing evidence that: 1 the child is deprived; 2 lack of proper parental care or control is the cause of the deprivation; 3 such cause of deprivation is likely to continue; and 4 the continued deprivation will cause or is likely to cause serious physical, mental, emotional, or moral harm to the child. If these four factors are satisfied, the court must then determine whether termination of parental rights is in the child’s best interest, considering physical, mental, emotional, and moral condition and needs, including the need for a secure and stable home. OCGA § 15-11-94 a, b 4 A i-iv. “On appeal from a termination order, this Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee and determines whether any rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the biological parent’s rights to custody have been lost.” In the Interest of F. C. , 248 Ga. App. 675 549 SE2d 125 2001.
So viewed, the evidence shows that the Washington County Department of Family and Children Services DFACS removed L. L. from her mother’s custody on the day she was born, December 14, 2004, because both L. L. and her mother tested positive for methamphetamine and benzodiazepine Xanex and because the mother’s parental rights to two other young children had already been terminated based, in part, on her failure to address her drug addiction. The mother received no prenatal care during her pregnancy, and the mother admitted during the termination hearing that she knew she should not take methamphetamine while pregnant “because it makes you not eat.”
