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Adoption

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To not want to take 2yr old in?

711 replies

MrsRyanGosling15 · 07/01/2018 12:09

Long story short and will change a few bits but here goes. Have a 2yr old half sibling. 1 parent dead and 1 parent with realistically not long left. Both parents had addiction issues. I have spent my life going above and beyond for the parent that myself and sibling have in common. Lots of help with addiction and serious mental health issues. I have another sibling my age with 1 dc I have 4. It seems to be assumed that myself and DH will take her in.

I know we would offer her a better home, we have a 6 bed place. I'm always there for school runs etc. I feel we have a more stable family life to offer. But this is what makes me feel so bad AIBU in the fact that I just don't want to? I have 4 and that is tough and financially a stretch. My kids would never have a holiday again. Think of all the school uniforms, birthdays, dance classes, school dinners not to mention the fact this little one may have fetal alcohol syndrome and all the unknown issues that come with it.
Deep down I know I'm not too good with kids. I love my own and I love this one as a sibling but if I'm being honest I love my own kids more and dont want them to miss out. To admit that has me so upset and makes me feel horrible guilt that I am a terrible person but it's true. I think if my other sibling took her in it would end her marriage as her DH wouldn't support it whereas my DH loves her like one of his own.
How do I look her in the face as an adult and tell her I just didn't want to have her?
Also I think the anger I still feel for the dead parent is still affecting me. I can honestly say I hate her even though she is gone. I predicted this whole situation before she died and the fact I couldn't stand her when she was alive makes me feel like I shouldn't have to sort out her mess she has left by dying when it was all her fault (overdose)
So I do t know what I'm asking? AIBU this horrible selfish person I think I am? Can u take a child in and sacrifice things, not just money but time etc with your own? What should I do? And please be nice, this has been a year from hell that has had me at the brink and i dont think I can take 1 more kicking. I just want to be a good dsis and a good DM but I don't think I know how. Sad

OP posts:
ChickenMom · 01/04/2018 01:50

OP. Adding in my support here. No advice but you have 4 children already, a DH who works away a lot and a mentally ill parent to deal with. All of that alone is enough to push anybody over the edge. Dealing with a possibly alcohol affected 2 year old...well I personally don’t blame you for not wanting to take on that huge pressure/stress. Of course you have to consider your other kids. They deserve a happy, peaceful life too. The only thing I would possibly suggest is could you look at a very good day nursery for her? At 2 years she’s almost preschool and I have many friends who are working full time and their 2 year olds go 8sm-5pm mon - fri. Could you afford that? Is it a possible option? That way you’ve got her for bedtime during the week and the weekends and you could possibly agree to every other weekend with your other sister? That then lessens the burden on you but she’s got a stable, safe place to sleep?

Gazelda · 01/04/2018 01:57

OP, what a distressing situation you are in. Impossible to imagine. Take all the good advice on this thread (I wish I could add to the wisdom) and take time to adjust to your current situation before considering long term issues.

What strikes me about your posts is that everything you do is done with love. And your DH too. Your DH and your other DSis sound like lovely caring people who can see what a horrible situation you are in.

Take all the help, advice, support and respite that you can. Don't make any rash decisions, but I'm certain that whatever your next steps are, you'll have considered all the options, the impact on everyone involved and decided on the best choice for everyone's benefit. Thanks

Fatandfrigid · 01/04/2018 02:05

Mrs RG you are a VERY good and decent human being.
I’m going through some personal shit and reading about you has helped me see good in humanity.

Thank you

MrsRyanGosling15 · 01/04/2018 02:11

fatandfrigid (feel awful calling someone that!) wow thank you so much. I hope whatever your going through resolves itself quickly Flowers

OP posts:
Mightymucks · 01/04/2018 02:14

I think Ted27 makes some really good points about the positives of 1-1 attention DS might get via adoption too. Both alternatives have if her either staying with you or being adopted have their own advantages. You just need to weigh up which you think will be best for her. Such a tough decision.

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 01/04/2018 02:14

After seeing what the "care" system does to children (someone up thread posted some of the awful stats) I would do anything to keep a child out of it. Especially one with additional needs.

Everybody deserves to be happy and taking in another child is hardly an easy decision, I know. But "care" is so appalling I just couldn't do it if there was any other feasible option, even if not an ideal one.

allchangenochange · 01/04/2018 02:21

I was sad to see this pop up in a thread you are on. As an ex social worker I can see why they have left her where she is, she is safe and cared for for the next few weeks while they work out what needs doing next. It is crap for you that you feel so unsupported by services but your dsis will feel safer with your family than in foster care.
That doesn't mean you have to accept taking long term of her if it isn't right for your family. I would expect you to be put under pressure to agree to this. If you do make sure you get a decent support package. Be careful that they don't just make assumptions about your family being able to afford stuff.
You will have almost no contact with adoption, more with long term foster care but not Easter/xmas because you wouldn't be her primary family.
You are in a horrible situation, don't feel guilty or pressured whatever you decide. You sound like a throughly decent person trying to do the best for everyone.

Mightymucks · 01/04/2018 02:22

chicken, that suggestion and also foster care with extremely regular contact might cause her difficulties as she gets older. She would become very conscious that she was the only child in the family who did that and might start feeling very conscious that she was different and possibly feel like she wasn’t ‘proper’ family as she was only sort of half in the family and sent away for periods of time. As she’s already had a lot of insecurity and broken attachments it would likely be hard for her to cope with that and would give her feelings of insecurity. That’s why my feeling really is it would need to be all or nothing, full time with the OP or adoption. She needs to have security. Not to say the OP shouldn’t have respite, but I think the little girl might cope badly with a situation where she was permanently and regularly a part time family member when the other children weren’t.

Mightymucks · 01/04/2018 02:28

You will have almost no contact with adoption

That’s not necessarily the case these days. Depending on SS in the OPs area, they could find a family who were open to keeping contact with the family going regularly. I know of a boy adopted who has regular contact with his birth father.

He was very young when his DS was born and the mother was too young to care for him, had quite serious MH problems and later went to jail. His Dad is great though, he sees him once or twice a month and the school holidays and also takes him away sometimes. Adoptions are getting much more open where circumstances allow and it is appropriate.

Fia256 · 01/04/2018 02:28

I have just sat and read the whole thread from start to finish

I don't really have much experience in being able to offer much advice or support, especially in comparison to others. I also might have missed if this has been brought up or if you have looked into this.

My in laws are foster carers. Most of their placements have been respite care, where children in care already / living with parents who are struggling and need that extra help will go to stay with them once a month (sometimes more often) so the parents get that break. At the minute they have been working with a family similar to your situation. Family member taken in a sibling so that he wouldn't have to go into care properly, but they pushed for the help and so every other weekend now, he goes to stay at my in laws so that the family member gets that break.

Is this maybe something you could approach with SS? Although I don't really understand the ins and outs of it, I can't for a second see why your situation would differ from the family my in laws are helping with currently. They've provided respite for many families in this way, some short term and some for longer.

Thanks
ThumbWitchesAbroad · 01/04/2018 02:28

MrsRG - so sorry that it has come to this, as you foresaw it would. Sorry that you have been left in the lurch and that you may end up being rushed into a decision that won't sit well with you.

I have no wisdom other than what I posted about my friend's experience earlier in the thread, back in January. I hope that you manage to find a way forward that is best for your little sister without having too bad an impact on the rest of your family. Thanks

worstwitch18 · 01/04/2018 02:30

Mrs I remember the first half of the thread from January. I have no advice or anything but I just wanted to say I think you're amazingly strong to deal with so many things with so much compassion. A holiday weekend is logistically a terrible time for things to go belly up.

One thing that strikes me is throughout the whole thread everything about your little sister has been discussed as your responsibility but in reality so many other people are not stepping up in the same way because they can't or won't- her parents, her other sister, social services, her mother's family. You're not her parent but you have done so much for her. Well done.

Thinking of you and your family.

VodkaRusschian · 01/04/2018 03:17

I've not read the whole thread, but I've read all the OP posts.

I'd take this child in, in a heartbeat. I wouldn't give it a second thought. It's my little sister who is 2 years old and she needs
someone to step up for her and be there for her and I would be that
person. She needs an adult in her life who cares about what is going to happen to her. Poor little love. She's being knocked about from pillar to post and she's only 2 years old.

When you have 4 children already, another one is not going to make all that much difference. Most especially when that child is your own little sister. I can't imagine not wanting to care for her. It might feel strange to establish her into the family at the start - but a year or so in it will be just normal for her. She's only two years old! She can be really easily accommodated into a large and loving family.

What's the alternative? Get her adopted by a (perfectly nice) stranger?

No way. I wouldn't want my baby sister to be brought up by strangers to me. Not if I could help it.

A life spent caring for and about others is not a wasted life,

Mightymucks · 01/04/2018 03:26

When you have 4 children already, another one is not going to make all that much difference.

A child who quite probably had additional needs as a result of FAS is not going to be not that much extra work.

Besides, as the OP had made clear, it’s not just about extra work for her, she’s trying to work out what would be best for her little sister and whether she would be better off in a home where she could receive a lot of intensive one on one support rather than being part of a big family where it’s possible the OP might not be able to devote the little girl the time and help she needs to her.

It’s a big decision and she’e totally right to consider all the options available for her sister:

Lacucuracha · 01/04/2018 03:39

@VodkaRusschian

What I found interesting in your post was that there was not one reference to OP's sister having FAS and how you would manage that with 4 other DC.

I would be worried by anyone who decided to assume responsibility for a 2yo 'in a heartbeat', without first considering the impact on the child in question, and their own 4 children and themselves.

VodkaRusschian · 01/04/2018 03:50

A child who quite probably had additional needs as a result of FAS is not going to be not that much extra work

Oh Mightymucks of course I hear you, And of course you are right if the child has needs above and beyond what is 'normal' then it will turn up in the first few weeks. I'm just saying that I'd give it a chance. This poor beleaguered 2 year old might flourish in a family of four. And I feel that she should be given the chance, before being cast forth into the care system.

Intensive one on one support does not always make the individual happy. Anyway, from the OP posts, we don't really even know that
the 2 year old has any significant probs. I'd take her in, give it six months, and then seek help if I needed it.

Mightymucks · 01/04/2018 03:50

Do give us an update after your meeting OP and let us know how you get on. I hope it’S a positive meeting and you get the answers you need.

VodkaRusschian · 01/04/2018 04:09

What I found interesting in your post was that there was not one reference to OP's sister having FAS and how you would manage that with 4 other DC

I suppose I'm a bit blasé about FAS and many other LD issues.
I'm in the business of LD. I have a daughter with severe LD.
I currently advise on the LD board of GPs in Leeds.
I'm not a GP.
At 2 years old you cannot definitely diagnose FAS.

I would balk at having to care for yet another child with problems or LD. But if it was my sister, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

VodkaRusschian · 01/04/2018 04:32

And to add to my previous post, it's well proven that children with
LD absolutely thrive and develop and learn more things a lot faster when they are living a normal life with a normal family...with lots of adults and children around them....who love them...

. . . than they would do otherwise,

Yup. A heartbeat.

adayatthebeach · 01/04/2018 04:58

Think of how the poor thing will feel knowing no one wanted her and she had family! She didn’t ask to be born. I’d be the bigger person and take her in. Make her feel like she is wanted and loved. I’m sure you will be rewarded may ways. Just knowing she is safe with you you will sleep well at night. Be proud of yourself and you family. You can do this!

greendale17 · 01/04/2018 06:12

I'd take this child in, in a heartbeat. I wouldn't give it a second thought. It's my little sister who is 2 years old and she needs
someone to step up for her and be there for her and I would be that
person. She needs an adult in her life who cares about what is going to happen to her. Poor little love. She's being knocked about from pillar to post and she's only 2 years old.

^This. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing that my sister was in the hands of the care system

TheVastMajority · 01/04/2018 06:43

Im a foster carer. My last two have been kids from similar backgrounds - parents into alcohol or drugs, same age. I have 3 kids of my own, but older. I also have an older sibling of one of the foster children.

Looking after the little ones cause no end of problems for our family. When they left, there was a huge outpouring of grief followed by a gradual feeling of relief. My kids had me back, we had a more normal life that was not centred on a small disruptive and emotionally challenged child.

The children went to loving adoptive families where they are the centre of all things. The new mums and dads have time and energy and a huge capacity to love these children. Their joy and their pride at their children is a truly wonderful thing. The children have every opportunity and the full attention of their new family and extended family. Adoption is not a second best choice, IMO. Its a brilliant choice for children from difficult backgrounds.

I still miss my little charges terribly, but I see how their lives are panning out and how loved they are, and I feel happy.

I see them once or twice a year, and that is enough. It didnt feel that way at the beginning, because I was their mummy for such a long time that I found it hard to let them go, and I was desperate for contact. But over time, that has settled into a comfortable relationship, I am in touch with the parents regularly without needing to interfere. The children know me and know who I was to them. They are happy.

I think I'm trying to say that giving a child with a challenging background 1/5th of your attention is not necessarily better than that child being adopted. You are not taking on a neurotypical, securely attached child. Yes, you could make a difference, but at a cost to your other children.

I think you need to consider speaking to social services about having her placed in foster care initially and see how you feel when someone else is providing her with high levels of care. (It also makes it easier to get assessments and diagnosis because if there is a view to adoption, that will be a requirement.). You could ask for regular contact - weekly, monthly, fortnightly....SS would ultimately decide how often. You would have legal rights to see the child and this would be written into the adoption order.

Please dont fall into the trap of thinking that you would be condemning her to a sad orphan life by giving her up. If your father lived 8 hours away, you would still have a relationship with your sister, just not the intense relationship you have now. Most grown adults with young siblings do not see them 4 days a week. Instead, put your own children first and let someone with more emotional, time and support resources take up the care of a child. Far better to be a much wanted, much loved adopted child than what you are suggesting as an alternative.

I also think its better for a child to have a mummy and daddy (or mummy and mum; or daddy and dad) rather than a big sister and her family.

MrsGorilla · 01/04/2018 06:49

OP I’m so sorry to read of this terrible dilemma you’re in. People on this thread may well say ‘oh I’d take them in in a heartbeat’ but they’re not IN this situation and have no idea what the reality of being in it entails. You’ve gone through so much dealing with all of this and having 4 kids and a husband who is absent a lot must be massive hard work. This little girl needs so much attention and care and I agree that you’re stretched too thin to be able to give it. There is no shame in that and the key thing is that you are not the author of this situation, it’s not your fault that this has all occurred and having gone through so much with her parents already this does not have to fall to you to take on. You don’t have to break yourself for this.

People are supposing she would be better off with you but just because you have a big house and a stable family it doesn’t mean that’s the case. Because of what she’s been through it’s likely she will need a massive amount of additional care and attention that you can’t give. Your kids need their mum.

Remember that you are not the author of this situation. Don’t break yourself.

NotAgainYoda · 01/04/2018 06:58

I don't have to hear anything that what you say OP. How you feel is entirely legitimate. None of us is you.

Sirzy · 01/04/2018 07:10

I don’t think anyone can say what they would do in that situation because unless you are living it day to day you can’t know. In theory it’s easy to say “she stays with me” in practise the realities for everyone become much more complex and it isn’t necessarily what is best for anyone in the situation.

I know someone who is a long term Foster Carer for a child wigh additional needs - she is an amazing woman and her foster son is so loved by her and her family. They are able to offer more than his biological family could. Sometimes no matter how much you want to you simply can’t.