Adoption and Mental Health

When you're adopting, you'll have to get your psychiatrist or general physician to sign off on forms saying that you are fit to be a parent.

 

you will be a great parent, don't beat your self up over history, allow it to help you grow and become a great parent.

 

well, i had the same problem, even though i am only young, so i went to my yputh worker and basicly sed, look i want to adopt when im older but i have/had depression, anexiety.. panic attakes, and im on the autisic spectrum.. and they did some digging around.. and sed as long as im better and have medical proof of that, even if there is mild medical input then it should be fine.. but obviusly im only 15 soo i have a long wit as it is

 

I'm an adoption professional, and can tell you a little from the perspective of my agency philosophy. The major goal of assessing families for readiness to adopt is not necessarily to identify perfection, but to make sure the peope adopting are in a good place to meet the demands of parenting and to be a good resource for children. We see families that have experienced many challenges in their history, and their being approved for adoption is based on how they have resolved those challanges and where they are at now. We have worked with families with suicide attempts, a hx of severe depression, bipolar, cancer survivors, etc.

The people suggesting that you'll need something from your psychiatrist and/or counselor are correct. That will be a definite requirement. Because of the number of suicide attempts, depending on how far into the future you would begin an adoption process, you may be asked to complete some psychological assessments in addition to a counselor letter. It depends. I worked with a family in which one of the partners had a suicide attempt 20 yers prior to beginning the process, so it wasn't a big focus. If you were beginning the process just a couple of years after a suicide attempt that would likely be a bigger issue.

Also, having some conversation with your worker about how you currently manage any mental health crisis and the ability to demonstrate a plan for self-care and being proactive would be good. Becasue the reality is that parenting is tough-and if you are parenting an a child who is older at the time of adoption there are extra challenges that will test you in so many ways. Being able to show that you have a plan for navigating those stresses will be very good for you.

My suggestion to you is that, when you are ready to explore adoption more seriously, you contact various agencies in your area and be very open about your history. They can give you a sense of what you might need to do and if they consider your history a barrier to the process. They won't be able to give you any promises before the home study process is complete, but it will help give you a sense of things.

Of course all of this will depend on where you live. Some states are much more progressive in terms of adoption. And even in progressive states there will be differing views by agency. So shopping around will definitely be to your benefit.

As a gay man, the two options open to you are Older Child and Infant Adoption. With what we see currnetly, if you are adopting as a single the older child route would give your best chance of sucess. If adopting with a partner either option would be good. In open adoption the birth parents identify the family, and we see same gender male couples having very positive success in our program.

 

I am not an expert, but I would say what matter is your current "status". I guess your psychiatrist will write something saying that you are now mentally okay and ready to adopt a child.

Good luck and be strong! I'm sure you will become a great father (*hug*)