Challenges Of Interracial Adoption

Others state that “race should be no barrier to finding a child a loving family and adoptive family”. One in five children waiting to be adopted are from an ethnic minority. Last year around 2,300 children were approved for adoption. Of those children 500 of them were either black or asian. Some adopted children state that growing up in a family you weren’t born into was more difficult than they thought. You never knew your ethnic background. It also always raises questions for a child about where they fit in or who they are. It becomes very pointed out if you are visually different from your

Transracial adoption the identity debate, is an immense concern because it confuses the child that they don’t belong to neither side black nor white. Because they have white parents, but the children’s race is black so they are in a confused stage that could affect them physiologically. The black child will end up wishing they were also white like their parents and will make them confused and not have a high self-esteem. Transracial adoption tends to have conflicting results toward the

Currently there is a disproportionate number of minority children in foster care system and as a result, individuals and families of other races or cultures are becoming caregivers and guardians for children of different ethnicities. This is what is known as transcultural/transracial placement and has been a highly controversial happening since the 1970’s and 80’s. The concern amongst social workers and child welfare agencies in transracial placements is the loss of culture or racial identity that may result for the child. Because of the disproportion between the ethnicity of a child and the same or similar ethnicity of a potential foster family, the notion of transracial placement has gone through many changes. As a result of several acts signed into law, considering the race of a child and/or the foster family is no longer part of placement guidelines. (U.S. Commissions On Civil Rights, 2010). While this is a positive change to ensure children are in institutional care for no longer than necessary, it could also leave the door open for the chance of racial disparity, a loss of a child’s sense of biological self, poor cultural identity, and could hinder a child’s ability to cope with being different. Research suggests “when children are removed from their cultures or when their cultures are not acknowledged and appreciated emotional trauma and behavior problems are exacerbated” (Coakley & Buehler, 2009)

With adoption being viewed in such a positive light there are still some people who are strongly against transracial adopting and some of their reason are because they believe that the child will lose their identity. Is the race of the child more important than the love that the child will receive? While observing transracial adopting there are many point of view that you have to factor in, but there is only one that matters and that is the love of the child.

Adopting a child of a different race can have benefits and disadvantages. Most people would think about adopting within their race instead of adopting a child of a different race. On the other hand, there are people that do not care what race the child is, they just want a child to call their own and to raise.

Now there are some things to consider when it comes to adoption. One of these being that transracial adoptees do not always want to be adopted by people from a different race. Meaning that skin tone and ethnicity plays a factor in the adoption process. Many people question if placing an adoptee in the home of a different race family fits the need of the child, and in the long run that’s the main goal of adoption, fitting the needs of the child. This situation has become very common, and are not always bad. However, “Trans-racial adoption can have very good outcomes, but one issue keeps cropping up – and that’s a sense of loneliness and isolation, a sense of not belonging. Adoption is a new identity and when you get the added challenges of people

This controversy gained national attention in 1972 when the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) boldly asserted that the practice of placing African American children in White adoptive homes was not in the best interest of the children (Fenster, 2004). The NABSW’s stance was based on their core beliefs that “only black families could provide the skills needed to survive in a racist society and Black children in White homes would be isolated from African American cultural values, ultimately affecting their identity development” (Lee, Crolley-Simic, & Vonk, 2013, p. 122). This stance was held throughout the next three decades and race matching was commonly used in the adoption process, in attempts to place African American children in Black adoptive homes rather than in White adoptive homes, as transracial adoption was seen as a last resort. Although race matching was considered to be in the best interest of the child because children were placed with adoptive parents of the same race, race matching unintentionally contributed to foster care drift and an increase in the amount of children in foster care. Foster care drift refers to the magnitude of children lingering in the foster care system for long periods of time without achieving permanency through reunification or adoption. In order to address race matching and foster care drift, Congress passed the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) of 1994 and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions (IEP) of 1996 (Bradley & Hawkins-Leon, 2002). This legislation unintentionally fueled the transracial adoption debate. MEPA declared that race matching was not a priority in the placement of African American children in adoptive homes, and the IEP took it one step further by asserting that “race was not to be considered at all

To the thousands of children in foster care, adoption means being part of a family. Adoption signifies a chance to be loved, wanted, and cared for properly. Every year thousands of children enter the foster care system. In the year 2010 alone, 245,375 children entered foster care, of that number over 61,000 were black. An astounding 30,812 black children were waiting for adoption in 2010 (AFCARS). With so many children needing homes, it would seem their adoption would be open to any and all loving families, yet this is not the necessarily the case. Transracial adoption, which traditionally alludes to black children placed with white families, is riddled with difficulties. While transracial adoption can be a successful solution, many

When a white Minnesotan couple adopted their African-American child in 1948, they opened the door to a social debate that would span decades (Hawkins-Leon 1239). This first act of transracial adoption [TRA] instigated conversation on whether agencies should limit child placement to same-race matches or extend placement to interracial matches. It questioned the appropriateness of crossing racial lines. Today, TRA occurs more often than it did in the 20th century. This frequency calls to attention a need for conclusion of the dispute. While race occupies a defining space of a child’s identity, the need for a family supersedes the need for same-race matching, and calls for the acceptance of TRA.

Have you ever felt unwanted? Well, many children who wait in foster care often times feel this way. Transracial adoption can help them find a loving home. I believe that race should not be a factor in adoption.

When adopting a child, you can adopt from many different backgrounds and countries. Historically, it is uncommon for white families to adopt a child of colour or a child of a different culture than their own. Until recently, it was uncommon for white people to even be friends with people of colour. Transcultural adoption has many issues as well as well as many benefits. The goal of my research is to explain all the effects, both good and bad, and evaluate whether it’s ethical to adopt transcultural.

Families can be treated like they are doing something great or they can be treated as if they had done something wrong. A lot of old school people view interracial adoption, along with any interracial families at all, as something that should not be done. They think this way because it was not socially acceptable when they were younger. The older generations were more likely to grow up on racism and cruelty to anyone that is different in some way. Interracial marriages and families are on the rise, as the newer generations continue to stray farther from the older

Transracial adoption which speaks of black children merged with white families and vice versa could be a great step towards reducing the overly increasing number of orphans. The total of international transracial adoptions have risen significantly from 7,000 in 1990 to almost 22,800 in 2006, but there was a slight decrease in 2008 to 17,000 adoptions (Lindsey 2012). It is a useful way to break down barriers of racism between people, by enriching awareness of transracial adoption. In addition, adoption is tracked down in the bible, where it was mentioned that the Pharaoh’s wife adopted Moses.

The survey consisted of eight sections including pre-adoption care history, post-placement history, medical history, physical measurements, educational history, cultural and adoption experiences, and family demographic information (Hellerstedt, 2004). During the extent of this eight year experiment, 4,134 children had been internationally adopted around the Minnesota area and 2,977 of these families were mailed the survey. This was 91% of the initial sampling frame. 1,426 families returned a survey for a single adopted child and 408 families returned surveys for multiple adopted children. Researchers analyzed the information for the oldest adopted child in a family unit. Neville, Lilly, Duran, Lee, and Browne (2000) then conducted a six item scale with COBRAS (Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale) analyzing parents’ racial attitudes. The parents were asked to rate their denial and/or awareness of racism and discrimination on a 1-6 scale with 1 strongly disagreeing and 6 strongly agreeing. After the COBRAS survey, three factors rose to the top. Factor 1 was color-blind racial attitudes. This assessed parents’ unawareness of diversity in their society. Factor 2 was enculturation parenting beliefs. This assessed the parents’ beliefs and opinions on the education of their child’s birth culture. They established whether or not the parents

Child Adoption has been around for centuries. According to The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, the most recent number of national adoptions was last collected in 1992 and has not been collected since. The reason for this is that it is not legally required. In 1992, the number of adoptions that occurred in the U.S. was around 127,000. In total, there are 1.5 million children that are adopted in the U.S., which accounts for over 2% of all U.S. children (Donaldson, 2008). My sister’s adoption is considered to be transracial. That is when children are placed into a household that is of a different race. Only 8% of the total amounts of adoptions are transracial, which is pretty shocking to me. The website also offered the percentages of the most common ages that children are usually adopted. The most common age that children are adopted is under 1 year old, which is about 46%. Next are ages 1-4 at 43%, 5-9 years old at 8%, and over 9 years old which is only 3% (Donaldson, 2008). After reading these statistics, I decided to further research how the children of these varying ages may adapt as they are adopted at different ages.