Adopting a child from a different race will undoubtedly bring a unique set of challenges. However, having an open mind will transform these challenges into joyous learning experiences. A key problem with this type of adoption is that children from ethnic minority backgrounds are at a disadvantage. Perfectly matched families are difficult to find. In the 50’s, transracial adoptions were seen as unorthodox and even frowned upon. Today, fortunately, it is more commonplace to have adopted children from a different race, culture or ethnicity group. In fact, a 2007 survey reports that 40 percent of children adopted are often a different race, culture, or ethnicity than their parent(s).
There are several positives that come with transracial adoption. The four that Adoption Choices of Colorado has chosen to share about are as follows: more diverse cultural enrichment, better abilities to cope and deal with adversity and positive racial and ethnic identities.
More Diverse Home Environment
Having a multi-race family can bring experiences that are culturally enriching, especially if the family were to embrace cultural diversity and seek opportunities to expand their cultural horizons.
Providing a racially diverse home environment through books, art, music, movies, schools, community groups, etc. will allow for your child to have a positive identity and develop racial awareness within the family. Also, when looking for or creating a network within your child’s immediate community, look for racial diversity with health care providers, hairdressers, babysitters, schools and playgroups.
This, in turn, makes it more conducive as to how you embrace your child’s culture. How you teach your child about his or her culture and how you better prepare him or her for cultural differences. Also, how you challenge those stereotypes, biases and levels of tolerance.
Healthy Coping Skills
You should be helping your child cope with racism, discrimination or overall insecurities about identity and self-esteem. Ways you can better help your child is by educating yourself on the history of racism. Therefore, allowing your child to ask questions and challenge tolerance. One of the biggest benefits of transracial adoption is that your child gains the ability to cope with racism. To grow up with a stronger sense of self-esteem, and, when children have positive views of themselves, an easier time moving forward from hurtful comments.
Here are a few tips to help instill healthy coping skills. They aren’t exhaustive, but should be taken largely into consideration:
- Be Honest: Encourage diversity when it comes to toys, games and picture books or videos that have positive non-stereotypical roles. They can even assist with how you explain differences between others.
- Embrace Curiosity: Allow your children to ask questions openly.
- Foster Pride: Talk to your child about his or her family heritage to encourage self-knowledge and a positive self-concept.
- Lead by Example: Broaden your horizons – community spaces and or groups and friends that are from different cultures and backgrounds. Be a part of different experiences.
Positive Identities and Self-Esteem
You can impart positive self-esteem within your child by creating a sense of emotional safety and belonging. By opening up the lines of communication between you and your child. In doing so, they have a safe place to talk about his or her thoughts and feelings. Listening to your child, and acknowledging their strengths and abilities makes your child feel valued. Small successes provide the foundation for building self-esteem.
Fostering positive racial identities involves making your child’s culture a priority. Helping him or her to know what it means to be a part of their own minority group. Positive racial and ethnic identities is also your child’s ability to fully identify with his or her ethnic roots. To be confident that race or ethnicity will not limit opportunities in his or her life. It is also said that positive racial and ethnic identities will be psychologically well-adjusted.
The parent-child relationship that is formed from a transracial adoption provides the positive development of ethnic identities, transmission of cultural values, beliefs and practices, development of self-esteem and psychological well-being.
Benefits of Transracial Adoption
The most rewarding benefits of transracial adoption are that you are providing a child with a forever home. You are becoming a parent. No matter the positives, negatives or statistics, the benefit of adding a child to your family is incomparable.
Adoption Choices of Colorado
For more information on adoption please contact Adoption Choices of Colorado. We can be reached via our website or phone 303-670-4401.
Support Adoption Choices
Adoption Choices, Inc. is partnering with Crowdrise, a fundraising website for nonprofits, to help our adoptive parents and birth parents with much needed financial assistance. We understand that expenses keep clients from fulfilling their dreams. Both with birth parents making a plan for adoption, and with adoptive parents growing their family. It is our mission to provide financial assistance through grants and scholarships, awarded annually in November, in honor of National Adoption Month. Funds assist adoptive parents with matching and placements, adoption finalization and helping birth mothers improve their lives through higher education — and much more.
However, we can’t do it alone. Please read up on our programs and donate money where you are able. Your donation will make a huge impact.
About the Author
Taylor Tsakopulos, the bestselling student. She has interned locally in Denver and internationally in Dublin, Ireland, taken classes/workshops and worked odd jobs and yet always comes back to being a student and the desire to learn or create.
She is a jack of all trades (i.e. a Gemini). She is a Denver-based writer, creator, artist and student. A graduate from Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU).
When she isn’t creating content she’s off dancing and hiking. Always chasing after new things and experiences. After living and working in Europe she is hungry for more.
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Sources:
Adoption USA A CHARTBOOK BASED ON THE 2007 NATIONAL SURVEY OF ADOPTIVE PARENTS. (2007). Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/75911/index.pdf.
Krueger, A. (2009, May 10). Pros and Cons of Transracial Adoption. Retrieved December 24, 2019, from http://fullcircleadoptions.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Pros-and-Cons-of-Transracial-Adoption.pdf.
Pros and Cons of Transracial Adoptions. (2018, March 26). Retrieved December 24, 2019, from http://www.theparentszone.com/adoption-foster-care/pros-cons-transracial-adoptions/.
Polk County Decategorization Grant . (n.d.). Transracial Parenting in Foster Care and Adoption. Retrieved December 24, 2019, from http://www.ifapa.org/pdf_docs/TransracialParenting.pdf.
Read “Cultural Diversity and Early Education: Report of a Workshop” at NAP.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://www.nap.edu/read/9197/chapter/3#16.
The Pros and Cons of Transracial Adoption. (2014, November 20). Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://prezi.com/icjqd4ihlu2q/the-pros-and-cons-of-transracial-adoption/.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!