"A grief reaction unique to the relinquishing
mother was identified. Although this reaction consists of
features characteristic of the normal grief reaction, these
features persist and often lead to chronic, unresolved grief.
CONCLUSIONS: The relinquishing mother is at risk for long-term
physical, psychologic, and social repercussions. Although
interventions have been proposed, little is known about
their effectiveness in preventing or alleviating these repercussions."
Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological and Neonatal Nursing,
1999 Jul-Aug; 28(4):395-400 "Postadoptive Reactions
of the Relinquishing Mother: a Review"
"In sum, society sees to it that by action
or by implication, a woman who is having a child out of
wedlock will come away from the experience with an inferior
sense of herself as a mother, whether she keeps her baby
or relinquishes him for adoption. This downgrading of the
maternal image, can do serious injury to the later maternal
functioning of the woman whose perception of herself as
a mother is thus impaired." HELPING UNMARRIED MOTHERS,
Rose Bernstein, 1971, [Permission given this author by the
Child Welfare League of America and the National Association
of Social Workers to use portions that originally appeared
in "Child Welfare and Social Work".]
"The decisions unmarried mothers have
to make are among the difficult ones. These decisions have
to be made under conditions of restricted maneuverability
and abnormal pressures - pressures of time and emotion that
do not allow for testing, exploring, and other procedures
that are ordinarily considered essential to sound decision-making."
HELPING UNMARRIED MOTHERS, Rose Bernstein, 1971, [Permission
given this author by the Child Welfare League of America
and the National Association of Social Workers to use portions
that originally appeared in "Child Welfare and Social
Work".]
