Assignment task:
How might Shailas life stage be impacting her experience and or challenges she is facing?
Case Study:
Adulthood Shaila is a 35 year old single woman who has recently moved home to take care of her elderly mother Irshad who was recently widowed and diagnosed with breast cancer. Shaila grew up in the US but her parents immigrated to the US from Bangladesh before she was born. She identifies as queer but is not out to her mother or extended family members as they are conservative and religious and she is concerned that they would not be supportive. Shaila had been very close to her father who passed away last year and is still grieving his loss. Shaila also has one brother, Aziz, 42, who is married to a (white) woman and has 2 children. She is out to Aziz and his family and they are very supportive of her and her queer identity, but she does not see them often. Though Aziz visits his mother about once a month, Shaila is currently the primary caregiver for Irshad. She cooks meals, provides social and emotional support to her mother, takes her mother to the clinic and doctor's appointments every week, manages all of the financial affairs, and keeps all of the relatives in Bangladesh, Canada, and England informed about her mother's changing health condition. The only people she sees regularly are those who come to visit her mother. Irshad is very religious and constantly tries to talk with Aziz and Shaila about continuing her cultural and religious traditions after she dies. Irshad is also very concerned about Shaila being unmarried and pressures Shaila regularly to meet young men who are from other Bangladeshi Muslim families. Despite not having a partner at present, Shaila also would like to be a mother and is exploring options for adopting or getting inseminated through an anonymous donor. However, she is also concerned that her mother will not approve of her being a single mother. Shaila is increasingly isolated and anxious as well as worried about her mother's health. She left many friends behind when she moved to care for her mother and she is currently not employed.