My sister recently lost custody of her 3 children and I have taken custody of them.
They have been living with my family and I for 4 months now. The intention was to have them restored back to their mum after a period of time but the decision has been made that they will not be going back to their mum and they will stay in the system.
this has caused a great deal of stress on my family and my partner and I are completely on opposite sides of the fence.
We have 3 children of our own, so all up there is 6 children - 1, 2 , 3 , 3 , 5 & 9.
the youngest of the 3 children that is not ours will go and live with the material grandmother , leaving the older 2 with no where to go and the father is in jail.
I grew up in the system and know what it is like. I therefore want to give the 2 children a forever home. My partner however does not.
We have been together 7 years and before all of this happened we were quite stable - due to get married in May 2022.
My partner does not want to take on the children permanently and is willing to leave if I choose to keep them.
I am so torn because this is my life that has now blown up. My wedding that I have been planning and saving for is 4 months away and unlikely to go ahead, I cry every day over the real possibility that I will either lose my nieces or my partner and I just have no idea what to do.
it’s important to also understand that this has been a very trying 4 months. The 3 children have very real and intense behaviours/trauma . It certainly has not been easy and we are only just starting to adjust
I feel lost , I have no one other than my mum or my partner to turn to . My mum took me in as a child and has a very strong opinion about what I should do and my partners opinion differs from that.
please offer me your advise , it would be greatly appreciated