Depression and Adoption approval???

In the U.S., mild depression and anxiety are not considered "mental illness". And seeking counseling or taking medication for these disorders is actually considered positive, since these actions can significantly improve functioning. Many people also seek counseling for other reasons, such as overcoming a fear of flying, developing confidence about public speaking, enhancing communication in their marriage, learning to negotiate better in the workplace, dealing with grief over a miscarriage, and so on. Again, these sorts of issues are not considered "mental illness", and seeking help with them is viewed positively in the U.S. In many of the countries from which Americans adopt, however, there is a totally different view. In those countries, people don't seek counseling or take medication for anxiety or depression unless they are well and truly "crazy". For one thing, they usually can't afford these "luxuries" when they can barely afford to put food on the table. For another, there is often a cultural bias against discussing personal problems with strangers or admitting "weakness." As a result, when foreign officials hear that a prospective parent has visited a psychiatrist or psychologist, or has taken Prozac or Xanax, they become alarmed. What they automatically assume is that the person has a serious mental illness, and is too unstable to parent. American adoption professionals have tried to educate foreign officials about how the use of mental health services in the U.S., but success has been very limited. Most of the foreign judges and such have not lived in the U.S., and haven't experienced the differences in culture, so they remain skeptical. Also, unfortunately, there have been cases in which parents WERE accepted with a history of mental health treatment, and subsequently committed suicide or were involved in child abuse. It is also possible that SOME agencies approved people who should not have been approved, such as people with fairly severe depression that was not well controlled. Situations like these make foreign adoption authorities very reluctant to approve parents with ANY history of depression or anxiety. If you have mild anxiety or depression and have been treated successfully for it, you MAY, unfortunately find that some countries will not accept you. But there are likely to be others that will. Make a list of the countries of interest to you, and then begin talking with a variety of agencies about whether you can be accepted. If you already have an approved homestudy, which has addressed the issue of mental health and found you well qualified to parent, all the better. Sharon

There is no yes or no answer because it depends case by case I believe. I know on my health record form it asks about mental health and history but it also asks if I will be able to parent a child with any illnesses or disorders I may have. I believe there are other countries out there that would let you adopt if Ukraine will not. good luck

China also does not accept depression or any history of medication for it.

Actually, what we have found through our adoption advisor (note - I did not say agency) is that there is no such law in Ukraine. It does state mental illnesses, however, she has had persons approved who are in the same situation. My MD said that in my case, it is situational and there should be no problem. Just as in most other instances, I guess it is how it is viewed by the judge and the SDA. The two agencies who stated that they would not represent us are both Christian agencies, and being Christians ourselves, we were quite disappointed. We are in the process of home study at this time and expect our home visit next month. Thank you for everyone's responses.

I am not a doctor, just sharing my personal experience as I have had depressions and anxiety for sometime. The best way to get over anxiety and depression is to take a break from your regular schedule, go out, and take good sleep. This helps in clearing the mind and try consulting a specialist who can suggest you as how you can get over your problem. There are various prescription drugs to get over anxiety and depression, but these should only be used in accordance with the instruction of a physician. There is a lot of fake selling of such medicines on internet, so before you can order it online just make sure it is a real pharmacy.

My depression was situational and well controlled. No problems with it since 2000. It was basically a result of failed fertility treatments and a stressful job. My MD sees no problem with it. I never saw a Psychologist or counselor. If you look at the medical form, it asks for Psychological/mental disease. I guess it is all in the interpretation. We have submitted to our state DSS and waiting for them to submit to INS, so we have not been submitted to Ukraine yet, but there are no foreseen problems. Thank everyone for their insight on this matter.

Unfortunately most agencies will make up their "ideal regulations" that exist on top of the country regs or the orphanage regs and this confuses and dismisses good parents seeking to find their children. Please be careful to ask more than a couple agencies when questioning and be sure to ask if the regs presented are country, agency or orphanage. Also, this happens in many agencies across the board. I am glad that you found someone to work with and I hope that you find your child soon!!

I would like to know wich agency you used? Would you sneding me that? angelacuiabana@hotmail.com

Thank you so much for posting this! I've had anxiety for so long I actually can't remember not having it, and it runs in my family. I've never gotten a DX for it because up until recently when DH started having some health issues, I've never really felt I needed to (it does interfere with my life, but I've always been able to compensate). It's hard to deal with sometimes but I've made it to my 30's, lol. His health issues (appears to be Migraine related) added additional stress to day job stress, owning/running a business, looking for a house and considering adoption, making my own issues that much worse. I'm still functioning, but have been debating talking to a DR because I was afraid that a DX (which will likely be something like GAD) would hurt our chances at adopting. I know it still might, but hearing (reading?) that makes me less aprehensive about going forward with contacting a dr.

Please don't take this as a criticizm of you because I obviousy don't know you or your situation! But adoption is stressful. Babies and kids are stressful. I have 3 now under two so trust me I know! The process from start to finish is stressful, and when you get home with a child and nobody to tell you what to do now, it can be extremely stressful! It can test your marriage and your coping skills to the max. Especially if you adopt a child that is a little older and has risk of attachment issues or medical issues or doesn't speak the same language as you. (At least you won't be likely to have an infant who screams all night because that could stress out mother theresa!!) So if a stressful job and infertility caused you to have problems, this could as well. I'm just saying this stuff so you can prepare appropriately. I know that's not what you were asking, but it's definitely something to think about advance.

Hello - My husband and I have just begun to research adoption, which we've been very interested in for a long time. However, depression is an issue that we've had to deal with in the past -- not currently -- and wonder how it might impact our ability to adopt, whether domestically or internationally. We'd love any comments/feedback you all might have... Thanks so much!

Hi there - Thanks so much for your posting on your illness; I have suffered from depression and am currently healthy. I don't want to take the chance of pregnancy myself because of post-partum issues. I would love any information you could give me regarding mental illness and adoption. Unfortunately, my husband and I are also over 40 (barely), so there may be two strikes against us.

uclannu - This looks like a pretty old thread. I share your concerns and we just submitted our paperwork to the agency and the homestudy foundation on Thursday. We're adopting from Russia - Krasnoyarsk - and up to this point, no one has mentioned any reason that my post miscarriage depression would prevent an adoption. We will be assigned a social worker for the homestudy this week and based on reading this, I will ask the social worker if she sees it as a problem. I do think I have seen that in most regions in Russia, there is not only a required medical evaluation for adoptive parents, but also a psychological evaluation required by a psychologist/psychiatrist prior to submitting the final dossier. I can post what I find out after I speak to the social worker.

I'd greatly appreciate any agency recommendations and/or possible countries to adopt from as I have a history of depression. Thank you!!!!!

Were you able to adopt from Ukraine with the diagnosis of depression after all? I see the post is a few years old. We are meeting with a home study agent next week and I just saw something today online to indicate that if I take medication for anxiety or depression I wouldn't be eligible to adopt.