Becoming A Parent or Carer - Types of Parents and Carers - Social Parents
Analyse the impact that reproductive technology has had on adoptive parents (6 Marks)
Adoption, for some couples, is the only viable option they have, or at least the only one they believe to be acceptable, to be able to start a family. With the improvement of technology as a whole, the improvement of reproductive technology has come with it and this has made mixed impacts upon adoptive parents.
For some families, the introduction of new technology opens up new pathways into having their own children rather than adopt. Particularly with IVF procedures, though for faith reasons not all are able to utilise these procedures, some couples who found themselves unable to have children, but wanting to have some, discovered that there was a possibility for them to have their own baby. While this is by no means a ‘better’ alternative to having no children over adoption, many families find this option more appealing as the child will be 100% their own from the start. This can create any number of impacts on the family’s wellbeing, mental, social and physical, depending on the results of any pathway they decide to undertake.
On the other hand, reproductive technology includes that of contraceptive technology, which particularly affects young couples to refrain from having any children they either do not want or cannot care for, for whatever reasons. This then means that for couples such as same-sex couples, who have very limited options in some places such as SA and WA where surrogacy is not an option, and couples who are unable to utilise surrogacy or IVF for any reason, have that much of a harder time being able to start a family for themselves. For these couples, the evolution of reproductive technology means there are less children in the world that are put up for adoption, which is not necessarily negative, but it means that less families can get started. This leads to a negative impact upon the couples’ emotional wellbeing, particularly if their desire for a family is very strong, as their options are limited even further.
For some families, the introduction of new technology opens up new pathways into having their own children rather than adopt. Particularly with IVF procedures, though for faith reasons not all are able to utilise these procedures, some couples who found themselves unable to have children, but wanting to have some, discovered that there was a possibility for them to have their own baby. While this is by no means a ‘better’ alternative to having no children over adoption, many families find this option more appealing as the child will be 100% their own from the start. This can create any number of impacts on the family’s wellbeing, mental, social and physical, depending on the results of any pathway they decide to undertake.
On the other hand, reproductive technology includes that of contraceptive technology, which particularly affects young couples to refrain from having any children they either do not want or cannot care for, for whatever reasons. This then means that for couples such as same-sex couples, who have very limited options in some places such as SA and WA where surrogacy is not an option, and couples who are unable to utilise surrogacy or IVF for any reason, have that much of a harder time being able to start a family for themselves. For these couples, the evolution of reproductive technology means there are less children in the world that are put up for adoption, which is not necessarily negative, but it means that less families can get started. This leads to a negative impact upon the couples’ emotional wellbeing, particularly if their desire for a family is very strong, as their options are limited even further.
Explore the impact that legislation has had on foster and surrogate parents (8 Marks)
One option for some families is to foster a child for a period of time. This period of time can range for a few days to the child’s entire dependant life. The legislation in place for this form of social parenting impacts upon the foster parents and the child/ren. This is particularly evident when it comes to parental decisions such as schooling, faith and medical decisions as the foster parents cannot handle these without approval from Family and Community services. Additionally, any legally binding agreements in regards to visitation rights or lack of visitations can severely impact the mental wellbeing of the child one way or the other depending on the attendance and care displayed by their biological parents. The situations that both foster parents and children can be placed into can induce undue stress, even negative emotional and therefore perhaps negative social wellbeing, and family conflict due to what is required of them by the law.
Surrogacy situations are similar in the way that the legislation in place for these arrangements is rather difficult to navigate and often negatively impacts upon those involved. While it is good that surrogacy is not allowed to be a commercial affair here in Australia that does not stop couples from going to India and Thailand for commercial surrogacy. This can seem to many people as an abuse of the privileges Australia provides to its citizens over whatever poverty may be present in other countries where the women do what they can for an income. If this is the situation and it is the surrogate mother carrying the child overseas, the health risk is greater as she will have limited access to quality healthcare and hospital care. Additionally the ban placed on same-sex couples in WA and SA can make these couples feel as though they are unworthy of a family of their own, which is highly detrimental to their mental wellbeing, and therefore does not allow for a child to be raised in a loving environment where they are truly wanted. This then can make for very stressful and troubled times for all parties involved in this process, negatively affecting their mental wellbeing, particularly with the risk of the $110, 000 fine and 2 years imprisonment for wrongful commercial surrogacy.
Surrogacy situations are similar in the way that the legislation in place for these arrangements is rather difficult to navigate and often negatively impacts upon those involved. While it is good that surrogacy is not allowed to be a commercial affair here in Australia that does not stop couples from going to India and Thailand for commercial surrogacy. This can seem to many people as an abuse of the privileges Australia provides to its citizens over whatever poverty may be present in other countries where the women do what they can for an income. If this is the situation and it is the surrogate mother carrying the child overseas, the health risk is greater as she will have limited access to quality healthcare and hospital care. Additionally the ban placed on same-sex couples in WA and SA can make these couples feel as though they are unworthy of a family of their own, which is highly detrimental to their mental wellbeing, and therefore does not allow for a child to be raised in a loving environment where they are truly wanted. This then can make for very stressful and troubled times for all parties involved in this process, negatively affecting their mental wellbeing, particularly with the risk of the $110, 000 fine and 2 years imprisonment for wrongful commercial surrogacy.
Influences on Parents and Carers - Social - Community Attitudes
Outline how community beliefs and attitudes can have an impact on stepparents (4 marks)
There are many forms of family structures besides nuclear, and stepparents are a large part of these as they are involved in stepparent and blended families. Stepfamilies are becoming all the more common in recent years and there is no negative stigma attached to them if you don’t count fairy tales. This can allow for the stepparent to feel as though they can be a proper part of their partner’s family and their children’s lives. However, it is a common thought amongst members of the community that a nuclear family will always be superior to any other form of family structure. This may affect the stepparent/s wellbeing in regards to mental and social wellbeing as they will think of themselves as less of a family simply because they had previous relationships, which, as mentioned, is not uncommon, and they will be less inclined to interact with the nuclear families they may be friends with prior to the blending of families.