What is Transracial Adoption?
To put it simply, transracial adoption happens when an adoptive family of one racial background adopts a child from another racial background. In other words, it is the merging of racial experiences and cultures within the adoption process. While there certainly is expansive ground in such situations for some beautiful interactions, transracial adoptions also have to be held at high standards of care and discipline. Race is a sensitive issue in our society, and its tensions and joys are based in countless generations of both wonderful highs and devastating lows.
As a birth mother, communicating with your child and your child’s adoptive family is key. If you are considering transracial adoption, Adoption Choices of Colorado is here to give you all the resources and information you need to know to make an informed and confident choice.
How can I Help Normalize Transracial Adoption?
Transracial adoptions happen every year and are a substantial part of successful adoption stories as a whole. We live in a diverse country and the United States is often described as a melting pot of different cultures and a nation of immigrants. To help further normalize transracial adoption (and really racial interaction as a whole), you need to find a balance. Turning a blind eye to a potential adoptive family’s racial differences won’t help anyone, but making their racial differences the focus of your choices in the adoption process isn’t good either.
Failing to see race or only seeing race are two ends of the same extreme. In the end, people of different backgrounds are ultimately just people — they may or may not face different experiences because of their racial backgrounds. The best things you can do are communicate, be sensitive, and educate yourself about racial issues.
How do I Actually Pick a Transracial Family in The Adoption Process if That’s What I Want?
At Adoption Choices of Colorado, we will work with you throughout the adoption process. We have counseling services available to you at no extra cost from beginning to end (and even beyond). Adoption can be flustering and overwhelming, for sure, so we try to condense information for you to make everything easier. With adoptive family selection, we put potential families’ info into an easily-digestible scrapbook format. The families can choose to include a variety of information about themselves, including their racial/cultural backgrounds. In a nation where there are overwhelming racial majorities, despite our diversity, it can be challenging to find people from minority groups — if you have people from a particular racial minority background in mind, it can be tempting to make knee-jerk decisions.
Our advice is to take a holistic approach. As mentioned before, it is not wise to select a potential adoptive family simply for their racial background. Choose people who will ultimately share your values when it comes to raising your child. Race can be an important factor in the adoption process if you are looking for certain cultural experiences, but race should also not be the defining factor in your decision-making. It’s also important to note and remind that race and culture are not necessarily synonymous — not every person of Middle-Eastern descent is a practicing Muslim, for instance.
If I Want More Information about Transracial Adoption, Where should I Go?
We live in an information age, so don’t be afraid to explore the internet, provided that you use credible, current sources to educate yourself. There’s a lot of general information about race out there, but you can also search for more specific topics if you are hoping for an adoptive family from a particular racial background. Still, it’s good to remember that what you find might not be perfectly accurate — not everyone has the same racial or cultural experiences. When in doubt, you can always work more closely with Adoption Choices of Colorado if you have questions about a particular adoptive family.
With adoption itself already seeming like a complicated process, adding the word “transracial” might make it appear like you are taking an honors level course with more homework and difficult tasks ahead of you. While it is true that transracial adoptions might require a bit more time and care, there is no need to sweat it. You will have plenty of help along the way and everything you learn (which you will hopefully retain) can be used to improve relationships of all kinds in the future. This is especially the case if you plan on having an open adoption where you can continue to visit your child and have to communicate regularly with your child’s adoptive parents. What you hopefully learn about race and racial sensitivity will not at all be useless, and you will be well on your way to a successful adoption story of your own.
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.
Meet the Author: Nathan Dyer is a university student majoring in Communication Arts with a radio/TV/film focus. He enjoys writing professionally and dealing with hands-on problems in real-world scenarios. Among his hobbies is hiking, which always encourages him to explore new places. He looks forward to crafting written materials in the future that serve to help people from all walks of life.
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!