Adoption after suicide attempt

A privately arranged adoption would be their best bet.

No a suicide attempt at age 18 would not preclude someone from adopting years later. Although a background check is required to adopt, attempted suicide is not something that would appear in a criminal background check so it would be up to the individual to disclose the information. If he did disclose the attempt, he would only need to show that he sought treatment for his depression and that he is now doing well. My husband and I adopted our son through a private agency (not through foster care) and we had to provide a note from our doctor saying that we did not have any mental or physical health reasons that would make us unable to parent. As long as the potential adoptive parent is managing a health issue in a satisfactory way they are usually given the green light to adopt, as long as everything else in the home study goes well.

Liralen said:

A privately arranged adoption would be their best bet.

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In the US, a homestudy is required in every adoption whether private, agency or through the state (foster care). I've heard a lot people say if you had to be perfect to adopt, nobody would ever be able to do it. The requirements to adopt through the state are sometimes even looser than through private agencies since those children (who have been taken from their parents due to abuse or neglect) are harder to place than newborns who have been voluntarily relinquished, as in the case in almost all agency or private adoptions.

One other thing to note for the OP--these days in the US in a newborn adoption, the adoptive parents are usually chosen by the biological parents. This could be an interesting angle for your story.

If they want to adopt internationally, that could DEFINITELY be an issue, but it depends on which country. For example, China frequently changes their "requirements" for adoptive parents, and anything that even hints at mental illness could block them. However there are other countries who aren't generally concerned about a previous diagnosis of mental illness, as long as it is currently under control - I think Ethiopia and India are among those. Of course, you may still encounter individual adoption agencies, individual orphanages, or individual jurisdictions within those countries who are not so flexible.

As far as domestic newborn adoptions - I have a friend who adopted a little girl that way. She and her husband had to design a sort of scrapbook about themselves. The adoption agency gives the biological mom a couple dozen of these scrapbooks, and the bio-mom narrows it down from there.

Of course that is through an adoption agency. It is also possible that bio-mom could give the baby to someone she knows (like a relative, or even just "that cashier at the grocery store who always talks about wanting a baby"), which would probably just require a couple of lawyers to do all the paperwork.

Plus every now and then you have bio-parents who find adoptive parents through something like Craigslist, which is much more shady. You could even have someone "sell" them a baby, and they bring home a baby without all the legal paperwork, or with forged papers. Maybe he's so worried about not getting approved, and he wants to give a baby to his wife so badly, that he is willing to overlook all the "legal" stuff.

Have you considered having them go through a surrogacy type adoption? One that's a privately drawn up contract between the parties through a private attorney?

I know you didn't ask and I don't want to go too far off topic, but if you do decide to make adoption a part of your storyline I urge you to continue fact-checking! There is lots of misinformation about adoption out there that is based on assumptions, or just plain outdated laws. And then, beyond the legal realm of things there is the complex web of ethical issues--and each of these issues can be viewed from the eyes of the biological family, the adoptive family and the adopted child, who will eventually become an adult with views of his or her own. All of this is rich stuff for fiction, but before anyone can create a fiction about it, they have to know the reality. (okay, stepping off soapbox now...can you this is a subject I have thought a LOT about? My personal adoption story has enough material for about 5 or 6 novels!)

hillcountryannie said:

I am currently working a novel about an 18 year-old boy who attempts to commit suicide and his neighbor/childhood love.

....

So, this question popped into my head. Would a couple like this be able to adopt a child, since the husband attempted suicide as a teenager??

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Two things - if the child is 18 then he's an adult - so adoption, I don't think so.


Second - it depends - I know of someone was turned down as a prospective parent because she had been abused as a child - by someone who is now dead and no risk. They considered that she wasn't suitable because of her past.

Here they DO look at mental health as a factor - I've been going through the system for several years now, and the level of invasiveness is incredible.

You would need to check the laws for the state/country you set it in, and bear in mind that not all countries have private adoption - for example, the UK and Ireland don't - you CAN adopt a family member - such as a nephew or grandchild, but you CAN'T adopt your best friends child.