Well said Susan. It makes no difference whatsoever, adopted or not and shouldn't remain an issue,,as to how a child " turns out " into the adult life.It can,and does happen to anybody.
I can't be doing with anyone who tries to make something of absolutely nothing.
If June had given birth to a daughter,,,who's to say she wouldn't have turned out like Sheila did anyway.?
Morning Lookout
The crucial factor in the June/Sheila/adoption scenario is the fact that June suffered depression caused by her decision to adopt Sheila. Had the cause of June's depression been non-specific or caused by some other external factor eg loss of someone close, physical illness etc, etc I would probably think it quite unremarkable but the fact that Dr Ferguson states it was caused by June's decision to adopt Sheila strikes me as most remarkable especially given the outcomes. It also raises questions about the quality of care Sheila received during crucial periods, eg was she left crying for hours on end as apparently she recalled doing as stated in Colin's book? I would think it unlikely that June went from being non-depressed and meeting Sheila's needs to being so depressed she required in-patient psychiatric care overnight. In any event June's hospitalisation resulted in multiple primary caregivers during the crucial bonding period.
Biologists and psychologists etc now believe babies bond in utero and that disruptions in bonding can cause the sort of problems evidenced with Sheila ie low self-esteem, depression, under-achievement at school etc.
As I think you know I was adopted at 6 wks of age. However I went from my birth mother to adoptive mother (just a short car journey with a social worker from my birth mother to the adoption agency where I was handed over to my adoptive parents). As far as I'm aware my adoptive mother has never suffered from any mental illness and was therefore able to attend to my needs as a birth mother would with no further disruptions in bonding. According to my parents I was a good baby and rarely cried
. They've also stated that I was never any problem ie as a child, teenager or young adult.
However, with Sheila she went from her birth mother to June (possibly foster mother before June?) a.n other whilst June was in hospital and then back to June. I feel sure that if Sheila found herself today with the likes of Dr Ferguson with the full history ie adoption and June's depression c1959 the first thing that would scream out would be 'attachment disorder'. Had Sheila have been treated in her teens when issues first started presenting then she may not have developed full blow schizophrenia.
The above is my view but I accept that if Sheila had remained with her birth mother she may well have experienced the same issues and full blow schizophrenia. Basically what I'm saying is that Sheila's early start in life put her at risk of the types of issues and illness she went on to develop.
If Jeremy was being tried today I would imagine much more would be made of the above. I find it odd that 3 out of 4 family members, where none were genetically related, developed either serious mental illness or have been convicted of multiple murders. What would you say the statistical chances were of that happening based on randomness alone?
