Having another baby.

[twilight1107]

In 2016 I lost 3 kids to fostercare. Since then I’ve done therapy ect.
Since then I got with. New partner, n been with him for 3 years.
This feb my baby was born. From last November social was involved and had another psychological assessment. Last month we have been signed off! Social services was happy with my progress and assessments was positive. Only negative was the psychological women said the risk would be if I had more children. (Harm). My partner and I would like one more baby. Would social services do another assessment?

Thank u

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear twilight1107,

Welcome back to the parents forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie and I will be responding to you today.

I am sorry to hear that your three oldest children were taken into foster care in 2016. It is very positive to hear that you have managed to make significant changes to your life which has resulted in children’s services closing their involvement with your youngest child. You would like to have another baby, however in the psychological assessment you had recently it was stated that if you were to have more children there would be a concern that your current baby and any future children may be at risk of harm.

Did you discuss with the social worker that you would like to have another child before they closed the case? If not, it may be a good idea to get back in touch with the social worker or their manager to ask for their thoughts on this. They will be aware of all of the details of your situation and may be able to advise as to whether children’s services would be likely to complete an assessment on any future children you have.

It would also be a good idea to look at why exactly the psychological assessment concluded that there would be a risk of harm towards the children if you were to have more in future and to consider your thoughts on this. It is also worth considering timescales – it might be that if you waited a few years before having another baby there may be less risk of harm than if you had a baby next year for example. If you feel that the psychological assessment is not clear about why it was concluded that it would be a risk if you were to have more children then I would suggest that it would be helpful to get in touch with whoever completed this assessment to ask for clarification.

The more information you can get from children’s services and the psychological services the better as you will be able to make an informed decision about whether or when you might start trying for another baby. Ultimately you won’t be able to know for certain whether children’s services will feel that they need to complete an assessment if you do become pregnant in the future, however the more information you have the more prepared you can be.

I hope that this was helpful. If you have any further queries please do post again or call our helpline on 0800 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm).

Best wishes
Suzie