Adopting your tribe
What a wonderful conversation we had with Anya Sizer this week about adopted teens. It was great to hear her lived experience on a subject that clearly resonated with many of you.
Anya shared her heart-warming story of when her young family adopted their third child. Her openness was astonishing at times, she spoke of some of the cliff-edges and potholes they have navigated through; how she has learned to be proactive in asking for help, and how they have adapted their parenting style to meet the very different needs of their adopted son.
One of the things that Anya highlighted throughout the conversation was her evolving tribe of allies and supporters. She has found a great network of family, friends, and support workers to help them through the challenging times and celebrate the many small wins.
Of all the many accomplishments in Anya’s incredible life, including becoming a Labour Councillor and The Speaker for Hackney, she told us “The one thing I’m most proud of is my family unit and the way that we have found our way through the chaos”.
Anya explained how adoption is unique and how it is unlike any other parenting you will do, especially when, like Anya and her family, you adopt a child with special needs, as their challenge multiplied. What Anya reaffirmed to us was that with some patience, resilience, self-care and a great tribe of people around you, adoption can be immeasurably rewarding!
Adoption UK charity https://www.adoptionuk.org/ was one of the charities Anya mentioned with some great resources.
We thoroughly recommend that you watch the recording of Anya Sizer and her personal adoption account [ Insert Link]
Next week – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Next week marks the start of OCD Awareness Week so we will be back on Monday for 60 minutes with Dr Zoe Kindynis on a session all about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
It’s a subject that always generates a lot of questions from the audience. It’s also a subject that has appeared in the papers in the past week. You may have read articles about the former Coronation Street Actor Ian Puleston-Davies. He has been very open about the way OCD affects him and took part in a BBC documentary a few years ago. This level of openness can be so helpful in allowing people to understand more about what’s going on in their lives. And that’s what Zoe will be doing with us next week.
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Written by Tara Dolby, October 2023