# Hep B , Hep C & Schizophrenia



## Chocolate Button (Jan 1, 2008)

Hi 
DH and I met with our SW last week and have reached the point on our HS where we are discussing the medical issues that may arise with adopting a child. It is difficult to know what ones we can cope with and what ones may not be for us. We are willing to take on many medical issues, but we are unsure about Hep B. Hep C and schizophrenia (parental history). I know that this can be hereditary, but not sure about the condition/s.
If anyone can shed any light or pass on any experiences of these conditions it would be so helpful.
How did you all cope with this part of the HS?
Thank you. xx


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## Ermey (Aug 17, 2004)

Hi Chocolate Button

I can't answer your question properly about shedding light on these conditions but wanted to sympathise with you re this part of the assessment - we found it the hardest bit! We got thoroughly confused with it all and we eneded up going over the tick boxes with the SW on at least 3 different occasions. It was very overwhelming -what we felt we could cope with seemed to depend on how tired we were that day, or how positive we were feeling. It is sooooo hard when it is all just hypothetical, and you don't feel very informed about the long term implications for each condition. You don't want to rule out children that you might be able to support, but on the other hand you don't want to bite off more than you can chew. 

Me and DH like to understand stuff before we can know how we feel, we kept being asked to go away and research conditions on the net and then we would be overwhelmed by conflicting information and be even more confused! 
We said "would discuss" for a lot of stuff becuase we felt at least then we could take each case on its own merit. However the SW seemed surprised (and pleased) by how open-minded we appeared  - we were then surprised and it made us wonder if a lot of people are a lot more black and white about what they feel they can and can't cope with. DH asked her if there was a "danger" that becuase we had said "would discuss" for a lot of things that we might get "kept to one side" as a couple suitable for a child with problesm... she admitted that that can happen. We actually are not very confident of being able to support a child with lots of extra needs and in light of that we tried to revise our tick boxes to be more decisive.

It is so difficut as there is such a fine line between some conditoins - eg we would consider developmental delay but would be nervous of significant learning difficulties... our original SW encouraged us to put would discuss for mild learning difficulties becuase it can range from anything from dyslexia upwards; however we have been approached twice now about children with potential "mild" learning diabilities that me and DH thought sounds more like moderate. Very confusing!

Sorry to have ramble on and on...I guess I was just trying to sympathise with the problem of not knowing what you can or can't cope with...how can we possibly reaally know if we have no experience?    The the most importrant thing is not to be pressured into saying you would consider something that you ae not happy with, even if they want you to say "would discuss" rather than a definite yes. 

Sorry for going on a bit long!
E x


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## CAREbear1 (May 15, 2005)

Hi
I ticked accepting Hep C and did a lot of research about it. I was worried about stigma, but it is not transmitted by bites etc and you do not have to inform eveyone that your child has it. I was appraoached about babies less than 12 months old as they have less than 5% chance of picking it up from mother if she had it, but then you have to wait for testing at 12 months. It was very much that I had to go in thinking they would have it and how would I cope, and the medical issues they would have in later life (a range here from mild to liver damage). In the end my child was not in this category, but it was a road I was prepared to go down. My social worker gave me lots of reading material on it and I think there is info on Adoption Uk leaflets.
Schizophrenia and mental illness was another I was prepared to consider, and yes it can be hereditory, but there are lots of mental illnesses that are not. At the end of the day it is for you to discuss and only you know what you could cope with.
I will say that I doubt I could have coped (or would not want to) have coped with some of the things I said I would, so tread carefully and think realsitically. I was very tempted to say yes to a lot of things so it would be a quicker waiting process- How naive was I? Luckily the angels were looking on me and I ended up with a perfect daughter (for me)
Good luck


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## mavis (Apr 16, 2004)

Hi CB,

You are coming on in leaps and bounds now.

We foudn this hard too but had been dicussing options for a while beforehand also, not that it made it any easier.

As the other ladies have said dont be railroaded and be honest to yourselves about what you think you could cope with and what you could consider, i agree with Ermey about seeing each case on its own merit.

But at the end of the day it is down to you two.

Good Luck.

mavis x


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## Chocolate Button (Jan 1, 2008)

Thank you ladies.  
DH and I have been trying to read up on many of the conditions the SW asked us about and have tried very hard to make the choices we feel we could cope with. Defo agree that there is no point saying yes just to look good on paper.  We just want to make sure we are fully informed.
Thank you all so much for your help.

ERRNEY feel free to ramble to me anytime. It is very helpful. xx


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## Cheshire Cheese (Apr 19, 2005)

I would like to add that you need to do some reaserch on the subjects.

And it doesnt mean to say you will automatically matched with a child with any of these problems.

Also the mental health issues can be the cause of various issues with the birth family someone with drug induced schizophrenia would be totally different to someone who say had just developed schizophrenia.

Personally i wouldn't rule this out


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## Old Timer (Jan 23, 2005)

Maybe you could ask how limiting it would be if you said no to these things?  We said no after our SW had said the amount of children they see in our LA with these things was very low.

Good luck, it starts getting very real when you have to look at matching criteria.
OT x


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## Chocolate Button (Jan 1, 2008)

Thanks Ladies. xx


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