I have a question about people with a mental illness and how its viewed during the adoption process?

Gaia Raain

My husband and I are adopting through foster care (by the way, please consider adopting through foster care - these children are the ones who need homes...many newborn babies who are given up for adoption could stay with their mom's and be just fine). Anyway, I have recurrant depression issues, along with having some mental illness in my family of origin. We were approved for adoption. They are more concerned with how you deal with your mental illness, than whether or not you HAVE a mental illness. In fact, if you are adopting through foster care, it can be looked at as a positive, because if you are leading a healthy, stable life WITH a mental illness, you will be more likely to be able to help your children with whatever issues they are dealing with.

Best of luck to you!

MamaKate

Hi, Delta,

I just wanted to mention that adoption carries with it all sorts of unknowns. While I understand your concerns about passing on a disorder, there is no assurance that the child you adopt won't have their own family history of bi-polar disorder or any number of other medical conditions for which you may not be familiar with or even be aware of prior to you and your child having to cope with its effects. You have no way of knowing if your adopted child will develop cancer, diabetes, other mental disorders, etc.

If fear of passing on a treatable family condition is your main motivation to forgo having your own biological child, you may want to reconsider the idea of creating a child with your wonderful man and preparing for the possibility that you may have to help your child cope with problems you are familiar with rather than taking on complexities of adoption and the possibilities of unknown medical histories. (Even if you are given a medical history it is not necessarily going to be accurate nor will it predict future medical conditions or the effects adoption will have on your child.)

Adoption itself is often a traumatic experience for an adoptee, even in infancy. Babies do grieve their first parents; and some adoptees suffer lifelong problems which stem from the simple fact of their adoption - even when they have been loved and well cared for. (RAD, depression, self esteem issues and rejection/abandonment issues are only a few of the common problems adoptive families have to consider.)Hoping to avoid problems with genetics by adopting could be devistating if the child ends up having issues anyway.

Older/Intercountry/Transracial/Special Need adoptees also pose many possible situations and come with their own unique issues.

Please do not think I am saying adoptees are damaged - I am just saying that you could be inadvertantly setting your family up to compound issues you may have to face in the future.

Adoption is full of issues of its own and all adoptions are different. You should examine this option from all sides and educate yourself as much as you can if you decide this is the path you wish to persue so that you will be able to provide the best possible family for your child.

I am not trying to dissuade you from adopting - simply giving you things to think about. I have no doubt that no matter what way you choose to build your family, I wish you luck and happiness! :)

americanfreeman

My sister is bi-polar. She is on medication and has been hospitalized twice over the years.

She and her husband have adopted 2 children. One was a new born and one was 19 months old. Both children have some medical and mental issues, but over all everyone is doing fine and is happy 10 years later.

jm1970

It will depend on your history and the severity of your condition, if you've been hospitalized, compliant with meds, a lot of things.

It is a concern that will have to be addressed, but might not make it impossible to adopt.

I'm a foster care/adoption social workers.

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