Supporting the Birth Relatives of Adopted Children: How Accessible Are Services?

Cossar, Jeanette; Neil, Elsbeth

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp061

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The anger and suspicion of birth relatives towards professionals and the protracted difficulties affecting birth relatives’ lives are likely to pose challenges to service providers seeking to engage birth relatives in adoption support services (Sellick 2007). Outreach methods and flexible services, with multiple routes by which birth relatives can access them, are recommended (Cossar & Neil 2010, Neil et al. 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mental distress of the birth relatives of adopted children: ‘disease’ or ‘unease’? Findings from a UK study

Neil

2012

Health &Amp; Social Care in the Community

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Parental mental distress may pre-date or even precipitate a child's adoption, but adoption can also cause birth family members psychological distress. There is a lack of research that has measured the mental distress of birth relatives in contemporary adoptions, most of which are initiated by the child welfare system. The objective of this study was to measure the mental health of birth relatives in contemporary UK adoptions using a self-report measure, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). 164 birth relatives (89 birthmothers, 32 birthfathers and 43 extended family members), drawn from three separate samples, completed the measure. Data were collected between 2002 and 2008. In 89% of cases, the child had been adopted from the public care system. The length of time since adoption varied from 0 to 12 years (M = 3.8). The scores of birth relatives on the nine symptom dimensions and three global indices of the BSI are reported and compared with previously published results from a community sample and a psychiatric outpatient sample. The scores of birth relatives were considerably higher than the community comparison sample. Fifty-seven per cent of all birth relatives had scores on the global severity index within the clinical range. Separated into three groups (birth mothers, birth fathers and extended family members), these figures were 67%, 56% and 35% respectively. For all groups of birth relatives, scores on the 'paranoid ideation' subscale were particularly elevated, raising questions as to the meaning of this symptom dimension for this group of people. Social models for understanding mental distress are argued to be particularly relevant, and it is suggested that the distress of birth relatives is more usefully seen as 'unease' than 'disease' and that support services should draw on Recovery models of intervention. Practice suggestions for adult mental health service providers and adoption support services are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mental distress of the birth relatives of adopted children: ‘disease’ or ‘unease’? Findings from a UK study

Neil

2012

Health &Amp; Social Care in the Community

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“…The Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005 extend this support to everyone affected by adoption and clarify which other agencies can act on behalf of the local authority in providing support services. Cossar & Neil's (2010) study of birth relatives’ access to adoption support services found that there was generally low uptake of these services and they argue for clearer referral routes as well as greater understanding of the services that adoption support agencies can offer. A further study (Neil et al .…”

Section: Lack Of Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birth parents’ perceptions of professional practice in child care and adoption proceedings: implications for practice

Smeeton

Boxall

2011

Child &Amp; Family Social Work

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This paper explores non-relinquishing birth parents' experiences of contested child care and adoption proceedings. It highlights the perceptions and voices of birth parents which are rarely prioritised in dominant discourses of professional practice in this area. The paper reviews previous related research and also discusses a small scale empirical study which elicited the perspectives of three birth parents whose children had been made subject to care proceedings and placed for adoption in England. Drawing on previous research and this study, the paper makes range of practice recommendations for sensitive professional practice with birth parents during contested child care and adoption proceedings. IntroductionThis paper reviews research related to non-relinquishing birth parents' experiences of child care and adoption proceedings. Whereas previous important work (for example, Charlton et al 1998) has looked at the emotional impact of losing a child to adoption, this paper extends that discussion by exploring the practice implications of previous research in this area and a small-scale empirical research project which explored birth parents' experiences of contested child care and adoption proceedings. The Children Act 1989 is clear that the welfare of the child is paramount. The corollary of this is that where there are concerns about a child's welfare, the needs of birth parents must always be secondary to those of their child; this does not mean however that birth parents' needs should be disregarded (GSCC 2010). Our aim in this paper is to highlight birth parents' perspectives on childcare and adoption proceedings and to consider the implications of those perspectives for professional practice; in doing this however we do not wish to suggest that birth parents' needs should ever take precedence over of those of their child(ren).

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“…Those who did access generic mental health 'talking therapies' reported that adoption issues were not addressed and therefore they had not found the intervention helpful (Neil et al, 2010). Cossar and Neil (2010) found that whilst agencies in England and Wales were relatively good at providing or commissioning independent support services, they were less successful at monitoring the quality of these services or how successful they were at engaging with birth relatives. The literature highlights many barriers that may exist for birth relatives trying to access support post-adoption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Considering a social model of psychological distress, Neil (2013) links how birth mothers’ experiences of trauma, powerlessness and isolation from social support can lead to psychological difficulties such as anxiety, depression, hearing voices and self-harm. Coupled with this, the distressing, adversarial and disempowering nature of court proceedings for birth parents is also widely acknowledged (Broadhurst and Mason, 2017; Cossar and Neil, 2010; Henderson, Sass and Carlson, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘My children are my world’: Raising the voices of birth mothers with substantial experience of counselling following the loss of their children to adoption or foster care

Morgan

Nolte

Rishworth³

et al. 2019

Adoption & Fostering

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There is very little published literature on 'what works' in terms of support for birth mothers following the loss of their children to compulsory adoption or foster care. The aim of this paper is to raise the voices of a group of birth mothers, an historically stigmatised, powerless and neglected group, with substantial experience of such counselling. A user of services and expert by experience was recruited to join the research team and was consulted at all stages of the research process. Five birth mothers were interviewed regarding their experiences of counselling with a counselling service for birth relatives post-child removal. These interviews were systematically analysed using an IPA methodology through the lens of the research question: What are the experiences of birth mothers who engage in person-centred counselling following the loss of a child or children to compulsory adoption or foster care? Three master themes were constructed from the data, namely From feeling alone, judged and let down…to feeling part of a special relationship, "The Healing Process" and "My Children are my world". The clinical invitations extended by these findings are discussed.

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Supporting the Birth Relatives of Adopted Children: How Accessible Are Services?

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

The mental distress of the birth relatives of adopted children: ‘disease’ or ‘unease’? Findings from a UK study

The mental distress of the birth relatives of adopted children: ‘disease’ or ‘unease’? Findings from a UK study

Birth parents’ perceptions of professional practice in child care and adoption proceedings: implications for practice

‘My children are my world’: Raising the voices of birth mothers with substantial experience of counselling following the loss of their children to adoption or foster care

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