Choosing a Transracial Adoption
By Bruce Kong
In today’s society, race and color often has a stigma of being stretched out too thin to the point where it sticks out like a sore thumb. And as a result, we don’t focus on the human aspect anymore – we emphasize the person’s skin color and stereotype them immediately. Black History Month plays a crucial role in American history to signify that we’ve moved passed looking superficially. We have come a long way to look past skin color and focus more attention on the person underneath the skin.
If You’re Pregnant and Considering Adoption, this Colorado Adoption agency highly recommends that you would consider a transracial adoption!
We will define what transracial adoption is, our agency’s steps for reviewing and matching families, and the benefits of transracial adoption.
If you need help with adoption now, you can call us at 888-307-3340, text us at 888-307-3340, or email us here.
What is Transracial Adoption?
A transracial adoption or interracial adoption is when adoptive parents adopt children of another race and ethnicity. The majority of adoptive parents who go through with a transracial adoption are white; there has been a 20% increase in adoptive parents of a different race (Asian, Black, Hispanic) who are stepping outside of their comfort zones to adopt a child of a different race and ethnicity.
Reviewing and Matching Families
Adoption Choices of Colorado will select family portfolios for you to select from, and once you’ve seen each family, it will be up to you to determine which family is a match for your child.
But be forewarned, adopting families come from a variety of different backgrounds. So you may want to consider what you think is best, and a few qualities that you will see in these family portfolios consist of a few of the following:
- Religious preferences
- Age of parents
- Professions
- A multi-diverse community
- Location of family’s home
There are multiple things to choose from, so it is ideal that, as the birth mother, you do your research before adopting your child to a family. And once you have selected a family’s profile, we will move on to the next step of the Adoption Process, which is figuring out if you’d prefer an Open Adoption, Semi-closed Adoption, or Closed Adoption. To keep things short, these are the levels of communication between birth parents and adoptive parents.
Benefits of Choosing a Transracial Adoption
- A Diverse Home Environment- A multi-race family is culturally enriching, and it embraces diversity while at the same time seeking new moments in providing a positive outlook on race through books, art, music, and education. It will challenge the child to step outside their zones of stereotype.
- Exploring Curiosity and Honesty- Adoptive parents can help guide the child to ask questions and even traverse in broadening their diversity horizons.
- Positivity and Dignity- This one may take a little work – but for a good reason. A child will spend their entire life growing up feeling different and unseen. But by opening up a sense of clear communication, adoptive parents can insert self-esteem into the child and create a warm, comfortable tide of emotional safety. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the child continues to stay in touch with their cultural roots and never dismisses their minority group.
How do Adoptive Parents Benefit from a Transracial Adoption?
Expressing genuine interest in culture is the number one reason why adoptive parents decide to go with a transracial Colorado adoption or other adoption agencies in Colorado. Respecting a child’s culture – and maintaining their connections to it play a vital part in the process. It helps the child thrive and allows them to understand that they are cared for.
At the same time, this will help the adoptive parents acknowledge racism for what it truly is and draw out any preconceived notions they have about a different race and ethnicity. Educating themselves about their race is a start to learning more about their child’s background and history.
Remember that transracial adoption is an opportunity for birth mothers and adoptive parents to open themselves up to new experiences. It doesn’t hurt to educate oneself on the cultural roots of another individual’s background.
If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy and want to learn more about your adoption options, contact Adoption Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
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!