Home Study Info Requested

Do not put it on the homestudy if you want to adopt from Kaz. They will look at your homestudy in court and ask about it! Can he go off his medication if he is doing better? If he can go off of it- at least for awhile, until after the homestudy, then you will not have to disclose it on the homestudy or the medical forms (there will be nothing to disclose). If he can go off the medication, do not disclose that he was even on it at all unless asked.If you have it on any forms you may not get to Kaz, or you may not get approved in court! This is a very big deal to them!!! You do not want to risk losing your baby or not even getting there in the first place.

St Johns Wort or 5 HTP are a couple of supplement options for your husband to try if he would like to venture off the meds. Do be cautious with 5HTP. It can be very effective, but be careful not to take too much. Here's a link for a company that offers a product that might help. Look at Neu Becalmed [url=http://www.neurogenesis-inc.com/all_products.php?id=5495]Neurogenesis, Inc. -- Science for Mind and Body[/url]

This is not necessarily true. Some homestudies require a medical history, not just current medical information. If so, it should be disclosed. Regardless of what we may think about the relevance of a medical condition, it is important that we not hide anything if it is asked. Not only could it come back to haunt you during the adoption process, but as your child gets older and asks questions and perhaps reads their adoption paperwork you do not want there to be any secrecy or deception. It can be devastating to adoptees to have any questions come up about the legitimacy or ethics of their adoption. It is in the best interests of your child to have everything be 100% above board, even if it requires additional paperwork or explaining on your part now. Easier to explain to a social worker, judge, etc., than to look your child in the eye and explain why you lied.

Of course if it is asked then I am not suggesting you lie...but don't disclose things that are not asked because they do not understand depression in Kazkhstan. That is what I meant. Later on if our child questions this you can explain it to them...I'm sure they would understand.

I have taken St. John's Wort for years, and I didn't mention it to the social worker so it wasn't in the homestudy. It was not asked for in the medical form I had to submit last year. It's an herbal supplement, so I don't see the relevance. I took it while in Kaz, and mentioned it to nobody. It's nobody's business. The prior responses are correct, about Kazakhstan. You will not get your child if you mention anything about depression, ever. They are incredibly backwards in their medical thinking. Unless you've encountered it, you cannot possibly imagine HOW backwards they are. My son is missing his right hand. The expectation in Kazakhstan is that it makes him completely disabled, and he was considered unemployable. Had he stayed there, he would've been on a government disability pension the rest of his life, never expected to go to college or work, ever. Nobody would've hired him, either, despite the fact he can figure out ways to do whatever he needs to do. Their medical thinking is from 50 years ago. Good luck! Dee

Amen Dee!!