Q: We have a potential match with a birth mother and we were told she is impulsive. She has 3 kids 17, 15, 12 and 8 abortions. She is in jail for financial and bad check writing. We are concerned she has Bipolar behavior but no one is saying she has it. What should we be concerned with? Is it inherited or can nurturing an infant change it? Any advice or where to go would be wonderful.
A: We have done a number of Creating a Family shows on both assessing risks and nature vs. nurture that may be of help to you:
- Evaluating Adoption Referrals
- Evaluating an Adoption Referral or Birth Mother Match
- Evaluating Risks in Domestic or International Adoption
- Evaluating Health and Legal Risk Factors for Domestic Adoption
- Nature vs. Nurture in Adoption
- Are Genetics or Environment Most Important in Determining Who Our Kids Will Be?
- Nature, Nurture, Genetics, and Environment
- Genetics vs. Environment: Which Affects Us Most
We also have a Creating a Family videos on Evaluating Adoption Referrals or Domestic Adoption Match and Evaluating Health Risks in Domestic Infant Adoption.
I would suggest you discuss this potential match and your concerns with your adoption agency. It may be possible to have this woman evaluated by a doctor to help her manage her behavior and to provide you with additional information. Unless you are a doctor with training in this area, it is not a good idea to try to diagnose something as serious as bi-polar disease. Impulsivity is also common with Attention Deficit Disorder.
Image credit: Kables
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