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Adoption

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on adoption.

Can birth parents change?

40 replies

darkriver19886 · 02/11/2019 13:08

I see a lot of threads that say birth parents can't make positive sustainable changes and it just makes me feel so powerless.

I want to change. I just feel it's all stacked against me.

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Bootstraps · 04/11/2019 13:18

Oh and also apologies for typos, am doing this on my phone.

And OP, from what I’ve read - and I’ve read past posts - I think you sound like you’ve already “changed” and can “change” enough to use your language, but I think you need to be compassionate and think of it in terms of being mentally well enough or not. You were unwell and you needed help and sought some when you were well enough. Not your fault and not something to be ashamed off. Flowers

darkriver19886 · 04/11/2019 13:28

Thank you everyone for the responses. It's giving me a lot to think about and consider.

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darkriver19886 · 04/11/2019 13:31

@Bootstraps thank you. Being compassionate to myself is something I am working on but it's hard for me right now. I know that I am a lot more stable then I was three years ago but, there is still things I need to tackle.

It's all hypothetical for me right now, I would never have dreamed I would have committed to therapy for this long. Mind you I never believed I would find a decent therapist in the first place but, I struck gold with this one.

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ChilledBee · 04/11/2019 13:56

People often ask me if I will "take" my son's BM's other children should she have any. The question always baffles me, especially when people know why she didn't keep him. I have never assumed that it would be inappropriate for her to raise other children and even though she essentially rejected our son and wants very little to do with him, I absolutely feel that those feelings are circumstantial. She fought for him to stay with family despite how much harder that makes things for her. Things could change. She has changed. She'd be as good a mother as anyone else given the right circumstances.

clairedelalune · 13/11/2019 21:32

Yes birth parents can change. 100% (unless it is something health related that they can't). But they have to want to.
You want to change and you have already made so many positive steps forward. When talking about sustainable, it is meaning in several years, time frames which most bps don't have when court proceedings are taking place.
I am sure you will get there xx

MrsFionaCharming · 13/11/2019 21:57

Have you looked into EMDR? I know some people who found it amazing at helping them deal with past trauma and it sounds like that’s the route of your problem.

darkriver19886 · 14/11/2019 06:53

@MrsFionaCharming I have but, I am not in a rush to delve into my truama. It's so ingrained, also due to the specific disorder I have I need to make sure I am stable on that front. Plus I am not sure my local authority offers it and I am not longer under the care of the community health team.

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OurChristmasMiracle · 14/11/2019 14:52

I do think birth parents can change but it requires a lot of support from external services which isn’t forth coming from social services once child has been placed for adoption as their duty to ensure safety and well being of the child is now no longer with birth parents and a lot of commitment from the birth parent and resilience to deal with what are some hard truths and face up to reality.

I have broken the cycle of abusive relationships, thanks to the freedom programme and a lot of counselling. I am now in a long term relationship but I have taken things very slowly- we have now been together almost 3 years but still not living together. I’ve worked on previous issues and I engage with professionals as and when needed. A lot of their concerns came from whether I would engage and whether counselling would be successful in breaking the cycle of abuse I had experienced from such a young age first at the hands of my older sibling which my mum was aware of but too scared to stop as my sibling was also abusing her. There was of course a couple of other concerns- lack of family network but honestly other than build up other support networks I can’t bring my parents back to life. I now know who to ask and where to go for help when I am struggling which wasn’t something I was able to do before. So yes I do believe birth parents can change but all too often are not given the support necessary and so the cycle repeats.

Birthmother1984 · 19/11/2019 18:04

Yes I do think you can change I know it's ver very hard but try not to google to much about adoption or to listen to lots of podcasts as it will only make you feel worse. xxx

BarcelonaFreddie · 20/11/2019 19:05

BPs CAN change. Our wee one's birth mum is successfully parenting two half siblings. It's taken around five years, but she's in a genuinely good place, a loving and stable relationship and her children are loved and nurtured.
Good luck to her.

KristinaM · 21/11/2019 08:04

I feel uncomfortable talking about Bp as a group, because they are just as diverse as anyone else.

I think we all know that significant lifestyle change is hard for anyone. We can see that in ourselves and our friends and family. Some 20% of The population smoke - they all know it’s bad for them and expensive. Most would like to quit, but it’s tough.

Some 65% of us are overweight or obese. Many would like to lose weight and have been struggling to do so for decades. We know it’s shortening our lives. But it’s tough and often requires significant changes for ever and that’s hard.

So I have great sympathy for all the birth parents I know, who mostly have very complex needs of addiction, mental health problems and experience of the criminal justice system. They often get a large amount of help and support , but of course it’s never enough or at the right time in the right place.

(BTW I don’t think any adopters actually believe there’s enough support to keep birth families together . Same as there’s not enough money for education or the NHS or to help disabled kids or carers).

BP often make the same poor choices over and over again, just like the rest of us. The triumph of hope over Experience.

It’s really really hard to change your whole life - most of us can’t even give up chocolate biscuits. I don’t judge them for struggling to do so.

However I know that many if not most of their children ( and therefore our children ) are profoundly damaged, probably for life, by their choices. And their children have rights too. So my sympathy for them is balanced with sympathy for their children, who don’t have choices.

Most of us who are adoptive parents have children who came from similar backgrounds to this. They are quite different in many ways from most of the BP who post on these threads. I think that some BP who post here don’t see that, they are not aware of how truly awful some children’s lives were before they were taken into care.

Understandably, they only see things from their own experience and they often don’t know any other BP. Which of course is very isolating.

Personally I know that many children are removed far too late, while others are removed too soon. I suspect that some Bp here have children who are in the latter group. But of course I don’t know.

I think that most BP who post here have lots of positives in their lives and they have the insight and ability to over come the issues that are troubling them - often mental health issues and a history of violent / abusive relationships. I hope that they will be able To go on and successfully parent other children, if that’s what they want. I wish this for you @darkriver19886.

So to summarise I think that BP have the same ability to change as everyone else, including adoptees and adoptive parents . But the needs are more complex and the change is more profound for some compared to others.

Adoption starts from a place of loss for everyone involved. It’s not as simple as losers and winners, good parents and bad. Everyone’s lives are complex and we all have our own struggles.

darkriver19886 · 21/11/2019 08:54

Most of us who are adoptive parents have children who came from similar backgrounds to this. They are quite different in many ways from most of the BP who post on these threads. I think that some BP who post here don’t see that, they are not aware of how truly awful some children’s lives were before they were taken into care.

I am not naive. I know what kind of world we are living in. I know first hand the impact significant trauma can do to a child and an adult as I lived it first hand and was failed by those who should have protected me. I absolutely agree that the child should come first. Hence why two years ago today I made the decision I did. I recognised the impact that my MH was having on my girls and i knew it wasn't fair.

I feel though that as soon as a person knows that I am a BP the instantly assume that I was some horrible monster that abused my children. (I didn't) and so the generalisation exists. I don't dare read social services threads anymore because I really grow tired of it all.

I feel I have something to prove but, it feels almost impossible.

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KristinaM · 21/11/2019 09:14

I was talking about BP generally @darkriver86, not about you in particular. Because that’s what you asked in your thread title. And I don’t know anything about you.

I’m not sure what part of my post made you think I believe that you are “ a Horrible monster who abused your children “.

darkriver19886 · 21/11/2019 09:17

It's not you. It's society.

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fasparent · 23/11/2019 00:55

Yes can change fostered and seen many children adopted in our 40 years . Have looked after children/baby's whose sibling's have been adopted worked with mum's and their new children who now are still with BM's and now have permanency with their additions. Still in contact with some we are here if they need support meet up now and then go for a meal have good chinwag

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