Bipolar and adopting

I know at least one other mom on the board who lives with a mental illness who adopted privately. I think it matters a great deal that your illness is stable. I don't think it automatically precludes you from adopting. I don't have a mental illness, but several close members of my family do. They are also happy, healthy and stable on medication. My cousin and her husband would like to adopt since she could not safely carry a child without stopping her medications. I feel very hopeful that they could since she and her husband have a long marriage and she can show a very stable work history - lots of evidence that her illness has been well managed and controlled. When we did our home study for foster adoption, we were actually told that it would be considered a plus for us that I was close to people living with mental illness because many kids in foster care have parents who are dealing with it also. So they might see you as someone who is uniquely able to understand what some of those parents are going through.

I have a mental health history as well. The agency only wanted to know that I am stable and what I do to remain stable. It was no problem at all. I know others with more significant histories than mine who adopted as well. I just needed something from my doctor stating that I am stable and able to raise a child - my PCP just added that on as part of my physical report form.

Our adoption agency just wanted a note from someone's primary doctor that they were on medication and/or stable in their mental illness if they had a history of mental illness. Your Bipolar condition should not preclude you from adopting. Good Luck!

There are very few agencies in for US Domestic adoptions that would have a problem with a stable person with bi-polar adopting. Its honestly not something you need to worry about as long as you can get a note from your doc saying you are stable on meds and can parent effectively. There are some foreign coutries that do not allow people with any mental health history to adopt and there is nothing you can do to get around it. China is the one that readily comes to mind.

Hi. I am bipolar type 1 and we adopted privately through an adoption attorney. In our homestudy, I had letters of recommendation from my psychiatrist and therapist both and we passed with flying colors. I think many people suffer some form of mental illness at one point or other in their lives and as long as you are stable, under a doctor's care, medication compliant, etc, you will be fine. Feel free to PM me if you'd like or want to know more. Blessings, Michelle

I just wanted to reply and say good luck. I am the child of a mom with a severe mental illness. My parents were looking into adoption when they found out she was pregnant with me. There was drama because she did have to go off meds. I disclosed in our interview that my mother had a mental illness but has been in treatment and on medications for many years and we had no problems. Good luck again!

I've struggled with anxiety & depression for my whole life & I'm pretty stable on medication. My husband & I were able to adopt, but I had to jump through more hoops. I had to get written recommendations from both my doctor & a therapist that my husband didn't have to get. I felt like I had to work twice as hard to prove I was good enough. You'll probably have to work harder to adopt but it shouldn't be a problem, especially if you have a husband & family who supports you.

I feel very lucky that my husband and family are all super supportive. They are ready to go to bat for me if there is an issue in our home study. My husband and I were actually engaged when I was diagnosed and he made it clear that it didn't change his love for me. He married me knowing the challenges we would face.Thank you everyone for your responses. As a first time poster this has meant a lot!

My husband is bipolar and all he had to do is get a note signed by his doctor saying that he was stable and able to parent a child.

I just wanted to wish you good luck in your journey. My husband's best friend's wife and my aunt's niece through marriage both have bipolar disorder and have been very stable for many years on the proper medication but are afraid to go off the meds to be pregnant. They would both make excellent mothers and are in loving stable marriages. I wish they would adopt too.

Glad I found this thread - I am filing out the autobio stuff and related health forms for a foster/adoption and couldn't figure out how to address my husband's BP - he is stable on medication. Thanks to everyone for sharing info!