The Health Care Bill and Birth Mothers

I didn’t expect to find mention of adoption in the >newly passed Health Care Bill. As I was doing some research, I found that not only is adoption mentioned but one of the very things that many birth mothers find aggravating about how adoption is portrayed is brought up: the issue of how relinquishment (and other outcomes/choices) can affect mothers emotionally/mentally. (You mean it’s not a piece of cake? Oh!)

Here’s what it says:

SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF RELATIVE MENTAL HEALTH CONSEQUENCES FOR WOMEN OF RESOLVING A PREGNANCY.—

• SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress that the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health may conduct a nationally representative longitudinal study (during the period of 18 fiscal years 2011 through 2020) on the relative mental health consequences for women of resolving a pregnancy (intended and unintended) in various ways, including carrying the pregnancy to term and parenting the child, carrying the pregnancy to term and placing the child for adoption, miscarriage, and having an abortion. This study may assess the incidence, timing, magnitude, and duration of the immediate and long-term mental health consequences (positive or negative) of these pregnancy outcomes.

That’s right. They’re acknowledging that the process of placing a baby for adoption has some form of a mental health outcome, positive or negative, just like any other aspect of dealing with a pregnancy, planned or unplanned. I find this absolutely intriguing. I wonder how the birth mothers to come in the years that they will be surveying this issue will represent us all.

(Also, may I insert a small squee for the fact that they used the terminology of placing a baby and not the archaic use of giving it up? Hooray!)

The truth is that, currently, adoption agencies and society at large are able to make expectant mothers considering placement believe that the process of relinquishing is nothing more than a sad blip on their otherwise wonderful life. These mothers go into the process completely unprepared for the fallout of grief and loss that they all too often experience in the weeks, months and years after relinquishing. I mean, the most some unexpected mothers know about the process of placing is what Juno portrayed. It is my hope that, if the study is done properly, we will be able to see a wide array of emotion, from those who cope as well as possible to those who need professional mental help to begin putting the pieces back together. It’s also my hope that we are able to see how important therapy and counseling are for birth mothers both before and after placement. I think I may be expecting too much.

In fact, I fear that I really am expecting too much. The piece talks about long-term consequences but how long-term are they talking exactly? I fear that they will stop following birth mothers at the magic one year point, assuming that they have watched the full realm of emotion over that extended period of time and thus assume that they now understand the emotional implications of relinquishment. The truth is that a number of birth mothers live in some form of denial for that first year, unable to truly grasp or deal with the process of loss. It’s worrisome, that thought.

Whatever the case, this is one part of the health care bill that is quite interesting to me as a woman, mother and birth mother. I have experienced three of those scenarios: carrying to term and parenting, placing for adoption and miscarriage. I think the outcome of this will be interesting for all of us. I can only hope that it is carried through properly.

You can read the whole Health Care Bill here.

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