The Family StudyWhen going through a fost adopt program for your gay adoption, your case worker will write the Family Study, an extremely important document, after your child's birth parents' rights have been terminated or relinquished. This very important document is called the Family Study and contains all the important information about your child's birth family that the case worker has learned throughout the case. If the agency is legally allowed to share the information, it should be in the Family Study. And sometimes you'll even receive information you shouldn't get. For example, one of my son's Family Study included both the parents' social security numbers.Info that should be included:Some of the information that should be included in the Family Study that you should receive prior to your child's adoption includes:1. Details of the case including all known history of the child leading up to the termination. This section should include the dates and reasons for all social services agency involvement and the reasons the birth parents were not successful in proving they were fit to raise their child. 2. Health history of all biological parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, if known. This section should detail all mental health issues as well as any physical health history, including bi-polar disorder, depression, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, etc. 3. Child's health history. This section should include everything the agency knows about the child's health and care from conception to the point your child entered the foster care system. You should know whether the birth mother smoked or consumed alcohol or drugs during the pregnancy, whether the pregnancy went full term, if the mother received prenatal care, any major illnesses, hospitalizations, or surgeries your child had, any known allergies, whether your child was exposed to toxic fumes, a witness to domestic violence, a victim of physical, emotional or sexual abuse or a victim of neglect. 4. Information about any of the child's other biological relatives and the reasons they were ruled out as possible caregivers to your child. (This can be valuable information.) Info the Family Study should NOT include:
1. Any personal identifying information about the birth family including social security numbers, addresses and phone numbers.2. Any private information about the birth parents' case such as treatment plans, financial information, or counseling needs. And that's it. Pretty much everything else is fair game. A good Family Study will be packed with information your never thought you would get. This document is very important, but it is also a very time consuming document for the caseworker to write. Therefore, it sometimes gets overlooked or hastily completed. You should gently and respectfully urge your case worker to complete the document, but also allow him/her the time to complete it with the detail that it requires. The information contained in this document will be valuable to both you and to your child now and in the future. I will soon upload the Family Studies I received for my children as examples. You will be able to see the difference in a quickly completed Family Study and one that took the necessary time. Check back soon to see them.
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