What age would tell your child this.....

CH0C0H0LIC

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OK the situation is this:

I have a 11yo son, and had split from his Dad before he was born. It wasn't a serious relationship and his parents did not know about us. (When my son was 5yo, his biological Dad commited suicide by gassing himself in his car.)

I had a partner who my son thought was his dad for 9yrs, until he dropped him like a hot potato and told me to tell my son he wasn't his real Dad.

I told my son about stepdad not being his real Dad and he asked about his real Dad. I told him that he had died in his car when my son was 5yo. I also told him that his Nan and Grandad didn't know about him but I would contact them if he wanted me to. They are coming to terms with the news still and we are waiting to hear from them so they can meet my son. I didn't want to lie about how he died so saying what I did meant I didn't lie (he was in his car) but my son could assume it was a car accident.

He is now asking questions about how his Dad died and keeps bringing the subject up. I do not want to tell him the real reason as he has moderate learning disabilities and i am unsure of whether he could process the information properly and i don't think he is emotionally mature enough to deal with something so... grown up.

What age would you tell a child this kind of information?
Very interested to hear your views.

On a good note my OH told me last night that he wants to adopt my son as his own (and David had already asked to change his surname to my OH's when we get married so we were a real family :D )

Sarah xxx
 
Hello fellow Peterborian! :wave:

This is a difficult one..... If you think that by telling him the truth about how his Dad died at the moment would have a detrimental affect on him, I would perhaps put it off for a while longer.

Of course, the time will come when he needs to know exactly what happened, but is that time now?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do x
 
I would also agree that putting it off for a little while longer would be a good idea. You aven't lied to him he knows that his bio-logical father isn't alive anymore and maybe that was enough for him to deal with right now.

Thats great news about your OH wanting to adopt your son and i'm sure it will make you all very happy, we are also planning on doing this when i marry my partner.

All the best of luck :hug:
 
There are some quite good websites giving advice on telling children about suicide.

I always think it's better to tell the truth, especially if anyone else knows who your sons biological father is and about what happened, if other children were to hear then tell your son then this could be worse.

http://www.tlcinst.org/PTRCtalking.html

good luck
 
I think 11 is definitly old enough to be told the full facts. He will be going into secondary school,this year or next won't he? He should know before he goes, so he knows how to answer any awkward questions, you know? At 11 most kids are fully capable of udnerstanding suicide etc,even with learning disabilities. i know I certainly was, as I was a bit younger when informed of the suicide of a family member, and my cousin, who has learning difficulties, was even younger than me and understood it as well. There's usually something done on it around the end of primary school too
 
i found out that my Dad wasn't my real dad when i was 12, not through my parents but by some "friend" of the family, it was devastating as I was told that he never wanted me and told my mum to have an abortion.I was to shocked to say anything to my mum and it never got discussed until I was 18, even now (I'm now 35) no-one wants to discuss it.
My advice from my own experience is be honest straight away he needs to no the truth and leaving it till he's older wont make things easier, but telling him now will give him time to grow with it and come terms with the news,

Good Luck Hun!

xx
 
I have to agree, honesty is best. He will deal with it alot worse if he heard it from someone else. Maybe before your partner adopts him so that he has a positive him his life.

But you are doing a great job, and how brave of YOU to get intouch with his grand parents.

Just tell him and answer his question has best you can.
xx
 

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