But most of the time we are talking about white people adopting children of colors as I said. 3. Transracial Adoption Issues. Acknowledging differences is not racist, nor does it draw negative attention to your child’s unique status in your family. Racial stereotypes and discrimination are still pervasive in society, and transracially adopted children benefit from families who are aware of these issues and open to discussions about them, both within the family and within broader society. Your child will need specific coping skills to deal with racial bias which you might face together as a family. Future research may benefit from closer examination of implications for specific minority races (e.g., black vs. Asian vs. Latino), who likely experience different treatment in society at large. I grew up in a predominantly white town that barely saw an Asian before — let alone an Asian with white parents. Transracial Adoption: Hearing From Families [Video] Adoptions Together (2015) Explains why discussing race in adoption is an important component of helping children settle into their new adoptive families. Particularly if your child has another skin tone than you. Docan-Morgan suggests that parents’ responses to such interactions can either reinforce family bonds or weaken them, so expecting the public’s scrutiny and preparing for it should be a crucial piece in transracial adoptive parent education. The study examined self-report data from about 600 adopted adolescents, some of whom were white and some of whom were racial minorities, including Asian, Latino, black, and mixed-race adolescents. However, the research does imply that policy regarding domestic or international adoption should not be influenced by the misconception that children do better in same-race adoptive families. Transracial Parenting FosterClub (2016) Most adoptive parents in the U.S. are white, and a lot of them are adopting children who aren't. Eleana H. Kim makes this connection as well: “Christian Americanism, anti-Communism, and adoption were closely tied in the 1950s, a period that witnessed a proliferation of the word “adoption” in appeals for sponsorship and long-distance fostering of Korean waifs and orphans.”. 1. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter. This lack of diversitycan place unwanted focus on physical differences for a transracial adoptee, which can sometimes bring up feelings of shyness, low self-esteem, self-consciousness or disconnect from your racial or cultural heritage. The subgroup of black adoptees in the study was small, and trends suggested that black and mixed-race adoptees, more so than Asian, Latino, or white adoptees, reported discrepancies between their perceptions and their parents’ perceptions regarding communicating about race within the family. One of the biggest concerns that prospective adoptive parents have regarding transracial adoption is how it will impact their child. This small but vocal population got their title from being adopted by families of a different race than theirs — usually whites. 21% of the privately initiated adoptions within the United States are estimated to be a transracial adoption … fostering cultural awareness or ethnic pride does not teach a child how to deal with episodes of racial bias, Blackness, Bragging Rights, and Balance — A Black Teacher’s Perspective, The Inevitability of Unsolicited Dick Pics, Hate Trickles Down: How Hateful Policies Normalize Exclusion, The Intersection Between Energy and Gender. I’m aware that I’ll receive a lot of pushback on my work, and that’s okay. Sure, they’ll be issued a handy guide (here’s one from the 1980s) on raising a non-white you, but beyond a few educational activities and get-togethers with other transracial families, they’re on their own (unless online forums count as legitimate resources). Hi folks, hope everyone is having a very merry Christmas. How my 10 year old taught me about workplace sexism and misogyny. Results showed that white adoptees and transracial adoptees did not differ in their feelings about adoption, pro-family attitudes (e.g., agreeing “I enjoy doing things with my family”), or anti-social behaviors. Of course not. Much like part-time church-going does little in the way of earning your way to the Pearly Gates, once-yearly visits with people that look like you won’t make you a real whatever-you-are. Others may mistakenly adopt a colorblind attitude, believing they don’t see color; they just see people. Stop Insisting We Can See. 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