Essay On Transracial 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

I think a big problem came from the foster-care workers. “Some foster-care workers said that matching skin shade was a legitimate way of easing a child’s adjustment to a new environment…” (Bernstein 113, 2001). In some situations I do believe that it would be hard for a child to adjust to a certain kind of environment but that does not mean that the only thing that should be matched up is skin color. If a child needs a home and their skin color happens to be different from the adoptive parents, so what. They are still going to receive the care they need regardless. I do not know about everyone else but if it was between getting foster care parents who are a different race than me or not getting foster care parents at all I would choose getting them.

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

If the adoption is going to be from another country, where the child is from another race and culture, the adopting parents should get to know about that race and culture before taking care of that child. So while raising this child, they can also teach them about their culture so they won’t be cut out of their original heritage. Because these children are banned from knowing about their culture and customs, it wouldn’t be good to take that away from anyone. So this can be a bad thing about taking in a child from another country, and the process would take up a lot more time and money to do this.

Researchers started doing studies to figure out what the problems seemed to be. They separated the children into different ethnic groups to see if there was a difference. The results where shocking because they didn’t know it was as serious so the matter got deeper. When the results came back it showed that children of backgrounds such as African American or Native American they had a harder time of being adopted. The focus is now on these to ethnic groups due to the high ratings of their findings.

Since the 1960’s, interracial adoption has been on the rise, although it was looked down upon until the 1990’s. Many kids sit and wait to be adopted for most of their childhood. So, instead of adoption agencies waiting to find what they call “the perfect match,” which is referring to a family who is of the same race as the child they intend to adopt, they started allowing interracial adoption as a part of hoping every child finds a family that loves them beyond the color of their skin. Proponents argue that children grow up to not care that they aren’t the same color as their parents, their kids are more open to learning about their culture, and that kids of different races, other than caucasian, are more available in foster homes and overseas. While cons argue that family acceptance is a problem, the kid might feel uncomfortable about being a different race than their parents, and that parents might not like to stand out.

A child who is adopted is always a good thing, yet there are those who wish to return to the days of racial segregation when it comes to adoption. The “National Association of Black Social Workers, in 1972, likened whites adopting black children to ‘cultural genocide’” (Clemetson & Nixon, 2006, para 16), which is a completely racist view of how White people would poorly raise a Black child based solely on skin color. Their stance on interracial adoptions has changed somewhat in the last 40 years. The wording has been softened to a more politically palatable and sustainable “transracial adoption of an African American child should only be considered after documented evidence of unsuccessful same race placements has been reviewed and supported

The intense opposition of transracial adoption is evidenced in a multitude of different ways. During the initial phase of the adoption process prospective parents are discouraged from proceeding by the intake worker. They are constantly bombarded with the alleged difficulties involved in transracial adoptions and questioned about their motives for adopting (Adoption 85). Parents are accused of

Thesis: Transracial adoptees family situation affects many aspects of the adopted child’s life. Do these children have identity formation difficulties during adolescence and are there any significant differences between adoptees and birth children?

I will be exploring the sociological affects of interracial adoptions. One theory I will be applying to this topic is the double consciousness theory. Consciousness theory explains how we have different identities and how they may conflict with each other. An example of this would be when people point out that you are not the same race as your family. If you are adopted by a white couple , part of you believes that you are white . Your identity shifts when others outside the family mentions you are something else. Ideal Types is another theory I will be applying as well. In an ideal family the members are suppose to favor . For instance my Father and Mother were both blondes at one time ( my mother still is ) . My father has blue eyes and

“ There are approximately 100,000 children and/ or adolescents who are in the Child Welfare System waiting to be put into foster care or be adopted” (Kreisher). The number of children living with 1 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) parent today ranges from six to fourteen million children or adolescents. Adoption is to take into one’s family legally and raise as one’s own child.

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.

The birth of a girl has never been a cause for celebration in China, and

     Adoption is metamorphosing into a radical new process that is both sweeping the nation and changing it. But this process is not an easy one, there are many steps to go through. Through research it is made a lot easier. Adoption is a also a highly visible example of a social institution that has benefits from and been reshaped by both the Internet and the exponential growth of alternative lifestyles, from single to transracial to gay. It is accelerating our transformation into a more multicultural society; even as it helps redefine out understanding of “family.” The process includes three main steps including a type of adoption, the techniques for location a baby for adoption, arranging

Since 1776, the United States of America has had a growing problem with orphans and childhood adoption. Orphanages become overpopulated while foster homes shelter up to 3 children on average. The foster care system has been viewed as positive reinforcement for American homes; yet the point of fostering children is consistently overlooked. Adoption is necessary for orphans, foster children, or children in abusive homes. The act of adopting a child comes with positive benefits and fiscal responsibility, such as government assistance and wiser spending. Children obtain a healthy childhood with a familiar sense of belonging. The drawback of this is the long governmental process of petitioning for adoption. Seeking the birthparents, if they are alive, retrieving consent, being fiscally responsible, and having a safe environment for the child to grow up in are all responsibilities to look forward to when adopting a child. The adoption rate in the United States of America needs to increase dramatically, as there are social benefits, mental health improvements, and economical advantages for families who adopt.