Becoming a Parent or Carer

Parents -  Promote the development of a dependant within a family (Biological and Social Parents)

Carers -  Involves meeting the needs of a dependant that may or may not be related 

Dependant - An individual who is under the care of someone else; includes children and those who need carers.

Parents can be carers and carers can be parents but not all carers are parents.

Biological Parents

A Biological Parent has provided the genetic material to create a foetus. Generally, biological parents contribute genetic material as a result of sexual intercourse. 

Examples include a mother and father who have three children that they conceived, birthed and are raising. 

Technologies available to provide more people with the chance to become a biological parent:

IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation):

Fertilisation of the egg and sperm outside the body and then implanted.

ET (Embryo Transfer):

The embryo is placed into the Uterus or Fallopian Tube after IVF.

AI (Artificial Insemination):

Used for women with healthy Fallopian tubes to assist the sperm meeting the ovum. 

Social Parents

Individuals who have parenting responsibilities for a child with whom they do not share a genetic relationship. These parents have varied social and legal obligations. 

Examples include, adoption, fostering, step-parenting and surrogacy. 

Carers

This is a very broad term. According to the NSW Carer (Recognition) Act 2010 (NSW), a carer is a person who provides ongoing personal care, support and assistance to any other individual who needs it. 

This can include primary carers, formal and informal carers. 

Types of Social Parents

Foster Parents:

Administered by Family and Community Services (FACS). FACS makes all the decisions regarding the child’s care, schooling, medical, contact with others in the family home, access to holidays and visitation by biological parents. 

Foster children may not be able to live with their biological parents for any number of reasons; parental mental health issues, domestic violence or sexual abuse risks.

Adoption:

Adoption is when biological parents give up all rights to their child, passing these rights to the adoptive parents, who assume all parental rights and responsibilities.

When a child is adopted from another country, the process can be legally complicated. There are agencies to support the abiding of both countries laws and demands.

Step Parent:

An individual will become a step-parent when they form a relationship with another adult who has children from a previous relationship. Grown by more than 50% in last 10 years (10% of all families). 

Step-parents have no legal rights over the child; this can make decision making difficult for this parent. The attitude towards a step-parent may be influenced by the age of the children and the biological parents.

Surrogacy:

A surrogate is a woman who gives birth to a child on behalf of a couple who are either infertile or same sex. 

There are no specific laws supporting surrogacy, which make this type of social parenting difficult. Paying of a surrogate in Australia is illegal, so couples may travel overseas to seek a surrogate. 

The surrogate relies on the use of reproductive technology to fall pregnant and because of this she will be deemed the mother of the child by the courts.

Traditional - A woman is pregnant with her own biological child but conceives the child with the intention of handing it over to be raised by others.

Gestational - A woman is impregnated with a fertilized egg to which she has no genetic connection and carries the child until birth. 

Discuss the implications that surrogacy has on the couple, the child and the surrogate involved.

The Impact of Legal, Social and Technological change on social parents

Adoption

Fostering

Step Parenting

Surrogacy

Carers

This is a very broad term. According to the NSW Carer (Recognition) Act 2010 (NSW), a carer is a person who provides ongoing personal care, support and assistance to any other individual who needs it. 

This can include primary carers, formal and informal carers. 

Primary Carers 

Are those carers who provide the majority of informal assistance - they are usually related in some way to the dependant and for this reason they often provide care because they feel it is their family responsibility, and they have emotional obligations to the dependant. The carer may feel like there is not another family member who can provide the same level of care, or they may not have any other alternative as formal care may be too costly. There may even be mistrust from previous experiences with formal care. 

In 2015 there were 856,100 primary carers in Australia - 3.7% of the population. (ABS)

Formal Carers 

Paid carers or volunteers who work in structured organisations. These carers choose to take on this role for various reasons, including career development, for example volunteering with aged care to become a nurse. Formal care means access to economic resources to ensure their needs are met. Formal carers will also usually care because they enjoy helping others and their personality lends itself to nurturing and fulfilling others needs. 

Informal Carers

Include any person, such as a family member, friend or neighbor who is giving regular, ongoing assistance to another person without payment. More often, these carers are women. An example is a grandmother who cares for her three year old granddaughter twice a week while her parents are at work. Reasons for people taking on the role of informal carer include family responsibility, able to provide the best care and emotional obligation. 

In 2018 there were 2.65 million people (10% or 1 in 10 Australians) who provided informal care in Australia.  (ABS, 2019)

Summary of Statistics

Among the 2.6 million carers, one-third (32.6%) were identified as primary carers

Age and Gender

• Overall, women were 2.5 times more likely than men to be a primary carer (5.0% compared with 2.0%)

• Women represented seven in every ten primary carers (71.8%)

• The average age of a primary carer was 54 years (51 years for carers overall and 50 years for other carers).

• Female Primary carers aged 55-64 years, more than twice the number of male primary carers of the same age group

• Female primary carers aged 45-54 years, almost three times the number of male primary carers of the same age group

Reasons for taking on a caring role:

In 2018, the three most common reasons primary carers gave for taking on a caring role were:

• A sense of family responsibility (70.1%) similar to 2015 (66.9%)

• Emotional obligation (46.6%) similar to 2015 (44.2%)

• Ability to provide better care than anybody else (46.4%) similar to 2015 (50.3%).

All stats taken from ABS (2019)

Promoting wellbeing

Wellbeing is defined as The degree of satisfaction achieved by individuals and groups when needs are met. Wellbeing will be enhanced through meeting the specific needs of a child or dependent, and through developing a positive relationship with them. Parents and Carers should provide opportunities to develop and support each area of wellbeing (SPEECS). 

• Physical - Adequate food, exercise and medical treatment.

• Emotional - Ensuring a stable, safe and respectful relationship.

• Spiritual - Providing space for purpose and direction to be explored.

• Social - Allowing adequate socializing and peer involvement for the dependent. 

• Economic - Providing financially for the dependent. 

• Cultural - Ensuring appropriate cultural traditions/customs are valued and upheld.

Building a positive relationship

A positive relationship is one where both parties feel valued and grow as a result of their interaction. In parenting, the responsibility lies with the parent. This can occur from birth through love, bonding, affection, understanding and patience. Parents can contribute to a positive relationship by prioritising time with their child and showing genuine interest in their activities.

It is also important for parents to:

• Provide opportunities for resilience and independence to develop.

• Help children develop self-discipline and maturity

• Develop a positive relationship that builds social and emotional well being

• Provide age appropriate responsibilities

Satisfying specific needs

Safety and Security:

• The parent and carer must ensure safety of the child throughout their childhood and adolescent life.

• This support may be physical (installing a a baby gate) or mental wellbeing (comfort and security)

Health:

• Assist their dependant to be hygienic through showering/bathing, toileting & oral hygiene

• Administer basic first aid, use medical personnel for medical check-ups, dentists, etc.

Education:

• Parents should encourage play, language/literature acquisition, creativity, etc.

• Important for carers to foster lifelong learning by exposing the dependant to new and different experiences & educating them about their disability/condition & their world

Sense of Identity:

• It is imperative for a parent or carer to support the dependent as they develop their own sense of identity in this ever changing world.

Employment:

• A Parent or carer is responsible for the teenagers employment and experience - volunteering to gain more experience in a certain field.

Adequate standard of living:

• Parents should provide their dependant with wholesome, fresh, appropriate food & encourage/provide water to drink

• Provide clothing that is clean & partially chosen by dependants, impacting sense of identity

• Appropriate shelter (housing) also contributes to meeting safety & security needs

Case Study:

A grandmother has had to take on the primary care of her three grandchildren, aged 8, 12 & 14, because their mum & dad were in a fatal car accident.

What parenting & caring roles will she need to take on and consider in this situation?

Changing Health behaviors

Health is holistic and encompasses physical, social, emotional, spiritual and cultural health. 

Nutrition and Physical Activity:

Changing health behaviors may mean that expectant mothers modify their diets, while carers need to increase their intake to ensure they have the energy to care for themselves and others. 

This can improve the wellbeing of the dependent by ensuring the health and safety of the baby in utero (Physical) as well as being able to adequately support the child's social and emotional well being.

Social and Spiritual Connections:

For a carer having to look after the elderly or physically disabled they may have to learn lifting techniques. To cope with the new situation, parents and carers will need a support structure in place and they may have to make new social or spiritual connections. 

This can improve the well being of the dependent by ensuring that the parent or carer is able to adequately support the child's social, emotional and physical wellbeing. E.g// Joining a mothers group also helps the baby to socialise from an early age.

Organising Finances

Ensuring there are enough economic resources to cover needs is essential to organise finances. Creating a clear budget, recognizing any money coming into the situation and what will need to be paid for will help parents and carers preparing for their circumstances. Prior savings can be used for initial outlay of purchases, however, depending on the situation, savings may need to be used sparingly to enable more time away from work, especially if the dependent will need long-term care.

Most employers will offer maternity payment - Full pay for 12 weeks. The Government supports parents and carers, however, new parents and carers will need to apply to Centrelink and provide supporting documents to receive these payments - Maternity payments for 18 Weeks 

This can improve the wellbeing of the dependent by ensuring that the family has the required accessories and equipment to adequately care for a child E.g// Baby monitor, Pram etc..

Modifying the physical environment

Changing the environment by modifying the house, moving, buying new equipment and adding amenities to meet the needs of a dependent is important when preparing for a new parenting/caring situation. 

Carers - In situations where the mobility of the dependent becomes an issue, widening doorways to suit wheelchairs or walkers, installing ramps and hand rails, and increasing the lighting to reduce risks of falls are all steps new carers can implement to fulfill duty of care responsibilities. Equipment may also need to be purchased or hired to support bathing and toiling. 

Parents - For new parents, preparing a nursery will involve safe sleeping solutions such as a cot or bassinet, temperature control to reduce the risk of SIDs and baby proofing the house.

This can improve the wellbeing of the dependent by ensuring that the home environment is safe and secure (physical). E.g// Baby gates, bassinet, high chair and baby safe toys.

Enhancing Knowledge and Skills

In order to cope with situations that are different or new, a new parent or carer can increase their understanding by going to courses, reading books, blogs, and information booklets, and talking to experts. Seeking out support groups will enhance the knowledge of parents and carers to find out new strategies that have worked in similar situations. Attending a training course, such as an antenatal class, will give hands-on skills and teach expectant parents some skills so that they may cope in new circumstances.

This can improve the wellbeing of the dependent by ensuring that the parent or carer is equipped to adequately support the child's social, emotional and physical wellbeing. E.g// Attending antenatal classes prepares the parent or carer with important information about the birthing process.