Adopting with mental health problems - possible?

[takeabeat]

Hi

Posting for advice and information. I'm interested in adopting. I have long standing mental health diagnosis which have largely been well managed by medication.

When I had my first (and only) child a couple of years ago I suffered very bad PND. I got support, was very open about the challenges, did therapy, changed meds. Things are more stable now but it's fair to say things were very hard. To be clear, no hospital admission and no concerns ever raised about my child.

The important thing - of course - is that I am able to be a safe and stable parent for a child. And I'm aware that more time needs to pass before I put myself forward.

However, I don't even know whether it would even be possible to be positively assessed as a potential adopter given my mental health history. I suppose before I start even to think / give myself possible hope in this direction, I wanted to get some sense of whether it would be more or less a no.

Any advice or thoughts would be welcome

It really depends on the diagnosis and treatment protocol tbh, for example psychosis is a very different prospect to depression, bipolar disorder different to generalised anxiety. The important focus is on how it impacts your parenting capacity if/when you have a flare up, your ability to recognise when your mental health is slipping and the supports you have in place for you and any children.

Many adopters have previous or current diagnosis - it alone doesn’t exclude you from adopting but I’d expect you to have good insight into your capabilities and limits. Adoption is a very hard process and parenting an adopted child can be very stressful so you’d need to give consideration as to whether adoption might further compromise your health - many adopters find their mental health dipping post placement.

Excellent advice from jellycats as usual.

The only thing I would add is when you feel ready, look around at several agencies. Some social workers will be more empathetic to your circumstances than others.

Thanks all- really helpful especially thinking through what would happen / what my approach would be should mental health become a challenge again to the same extent. It's tricky isn't it because I imagine individual social workers are more or less understanding but that feels like the luck of the draw.