Transracial Adoption Terms: Are They All the Same?
By Jan Douglas
Adoption Choices of Colorado is an excellent resource if you are pregnant and considering adoption. We are accessible round the clock. One of our adoption counselors can meet with you at one of our locations. We can also get together at a private or public spot. If you prefer to talk on the phone, our number is 303-670-4673 (HOPE). You can submit a contact request here if you prefer. The bottom line is we are here for any expectant woman.
Adoptions have significantly changed over the last couple of decades. The birth mother makes all the decisions in the adoption process. She will decide the type of adoption – open adoption, semi-open, or closed. Our adoption agency carefully screens hopeful families. The birth parent will have the opportunity to review several families until she finds one perfect. Choosing adoption may feel like you are taking the easy way out. That could not be further from the truth! The reason a woman contemplates adoption is unique. Choosing to place your baby for adoption in a wonderful and loving family takes courage. It can be a new beginning for you and your unborn baby. Although you may feel discouraged, the sun will shine again.
If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE) or visit us at Adoption Choices of Colorado.
Transracial Adoption Terms and the Types of Adoptions in Colorado
There are many types of adoptions in Colorado. As a nation, we are celebrating Black History Month right now. You may have heard terms such as transracial, multiracial, transcultural, and interracial adoption. All these terms mean exactly the same thing. This type of adoption simply means you are placing the baby with a family of a different race or ethnic group. There are many advantages to interracial adoption. Some of them include the following:
- The adopted child will grow up in a culturally diverse home
- Adoptive parents who choose a transracial adoption may be independent and strong-minded
- Often transcultural homes are broad-minded, caring, and accepting
Reasons Why a Birth Mother may Choose a Transracial Adoption
Women choose adoption for various reasons – financial reasons, teenage pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, or possibly emotional reasons. Once a birth mom decides on adoption, part of creating an adoption plan is selecting the adoptive family. A transracial family may be one of the best options. Growing up in a home with different cultures often creates open-mindedness. Various ethnic or national cultures make up a multicultural home. It tends to have an environment of tolerance and creativity – a blend of different customs, traditions, and heritage.
A birth mother may desire a transracial adoption if the unborn baby is biracial. She may feel that the child will fit in or be more comfortable with a multiracial family. Transracial adoptions may also bring awareness to the child at a young age of racial or ethnic differences. The child may grow up a more accepting person. Usually, people are afraid or tentative about anyone different because they have not been around people unlike themselves. A person raised in a transracial family may appreciate all the varieties of persons in the world. Having this worldview can open doors to a beautiful and interesting life!
Advantages of Choosing Adoption
Modern adoptions have changed immensely from adoptions in the past. The majority of adoption plans these days are open or semi-open adoptions. In these adoptions, the birth mother decides how much involvement the adoptive family will have in the adoption process. And the level of relationship she will have in the child’s life. There is a great amount of flexibility in today’s adoptions. Some birth mothers might want an open adoption in which the adoptive parents come to the doctor’s appointments and are even present at the birth. Others choose to limit the amount of communication to updates throughout the child’s life until they turn eighteen. And even this has adaptability.
There are wonderful families out there that desperately want children. Some have tried to have kids and experience miscarriage after miscarriage. Others have never been able to get pregnant. When a birth mother chooses adoption, she grants a couple the fulfillment of a deep and persistent longing. Adoptive parents are deciding to adopt. They have gone through a rigorous screening process. They may have been waiting several years. You are helping to create a new family.
Depending on the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy, a birth mother may be gifting herself and her child a better life. She may be young, financially unstable, or just not ready to commit to raising a child. Children require more than love – a stable home, basic necessities, and time. And then, there are secondary needs such as extracurricular activities, college or technical school, and vacations. Adoption can provide peace of mind to a birth mother. When a person takes control of their life, it can be empowering. Our private adoption agency will guide and support you.
Where can a birth mother find help and support when considering adoption?
If you have an unplanned pregnancy in Colorado, you have three options: have the baby, terminate the pregnancy, or adoption. Adoption gives you another way if you feel uncomfortable terminating your pregnancy. Or you are not ready to raise a child. You do not need to apologize for whatever decision you make. Most adopted children today grow up in families where they feel adoption is unique. And the majority of these children have good feelings about their circumstances.
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!