Why Transracial Adoptions Should be Encouraged
Picture this, you’re a single woman who just learned that she has an unplanned pregnancy! You might feel a little lost or don’t know what to do. And that’s when you might have discovered adoption as an option! There are a lot of benefits when choosing to give your child to an adoptive family, and perhaps the biggest one is allowing a family to grow by introducing another child into their family unit. However, you might discover that not all families are part of the same racial background. That’s where transracial adoption comes into play. Transracial adoptions are an adoption option in which adoptive parents bring a child into their family who is not part of the same racial background as the adoptive family. Here’s an important thing to note! No matter what kind of family your child will be adopted into, your child will be well-taken care of and looked after. Adoption Choices of Colorado will do its best to ensure that your child ends up with a loving family, and there are many reasons why transracial adoptions should be embraced! In this article, we will be exploring some of those reasons and discover why transracial families can be some of the most accepting, open-minded families you might ever come across.
If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE) or visit us at Adoption Choices of Colorado.
Adoptive Families are Open-Minded
This is a really big one! Because adoptive families are so culturally diverse, you will find them to be some of the most open-minded people on this planet. You will find adoptive parents are willing to explore the cultures of their children alongside their adopted child and, not to mention, share their own culture. As such, these children end up embracing both the culture of their background and the culture of their adoptive parents! In transracial adoptions, children learn the importance of diversity, embrace the differences that might exist between them and their peers, and form the open minds that their parents have.
Transracial Adoptions Break Down Racial Barriers
Transracial families show Colorado and the rest of America that families can come in many different forms and still be very happy and loving. Oftentimes, you can see the effort and love adoptive parents take when raising children who are racially different from they are. Adoptive parents who form transracial families take their children to events and places where people share their children’s heritage. As such, these culturally different parents have often embraced the community their children belong to and are treated as members of said communities. You may find white parents attending Mexican festivities with their Latino child of African-American parents taking their Chinese child to a Chinese New Year Celebration! By doing so, these transracial families help break the various cultural barriers that exist within the United States and further the idea of the American melting pot.
Transracial Adoptions Help Create Diversity
Diversity is a huge plus when it comes to transracial families. Families of different racial backgrounds come together to the same traditional and cultural events, and having people from different cultures come together in the same places creates a sense of community between people who might not have crossed paths before. As your child learns from the culture of their adoptive parents, the adoptive parents will learn from your culture. In many ways, your child will be teaching them new things that they did not know about beforehand, and the adoptive parents are helping end ignorance and racial hate by taking your child to places of their culture and of your culture.
Transracial Adoption is Vital for Colorado, Adoption Agencies, Birth Parents, and Adoptive Families
There are a lot of children out there who would love to have families, no matter if said families looked different from them or not. As such, transracial adoptions help fulfill the need many children must have: a family. Transracial families help end the stigma around Colorado adoption and are actually one component that keeps adoption alive! By participating in one, you are helping the view of adoption around Colorado and across the United States and helping adoptive parents build their own families.
The Benefits of a Colorado Transracial Adoption are Outstanding!
We all know Colorado is a state with a large mix of cultures, and one of the many things that can help bring all of these cultures together is having blended families share their different traditions with one another and their local community. If you have any questions regarding this process, don’t hesitate to contact Adoption Choices of Colorado! We are here to answer any questions you might have, and if you are currently going through the adoption process, feel free to contact your Colorado adoption agency or adoption specialist!
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: Danny Solorzano is a recent graduate of Dalton State College. He graduated cum laude and has the honor of being a published writer. He is active in his local community through his work in college and community theatre. He is currently pursuing a career in journalism and hopes to, one day, publish the first of many fictional novels he has written.
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!