Should Adoption Be Colour Blind? Essay

Instead laws are changed to make adopting mixed-race children easier. In Sandra Lapierre's situation she adopted Justin, who is different colored skin than her and the laws of Multi-Ethnic Placement Act(MEPA) was enacted in Congress in 1994. This law states that no court can delay or deny the rights of adopting mixed-race children. Some people enjoy this law because they are able to adopt children without complications, while others do not approve of this law, especially in Rhode Island. The courts in Rhode Island have been trying to fight the courts because they believe different races should be adopted by the same race parents and not have mixed-race adoption. The courts and other people believe mixed-race adoption has a bad effect on the children because they are not surrounded by the same race. Well Sandra on the other hand states, “To me, the one issue is, racism comes from people being scared of someone different, so I try to eliminate it in my home.” ;she also comes out and says, “The courts taught my children that race matters.”. With both these statements you can see that race does not matter to her and she is trying to spread the word about that, so other people will want to adopt mixed-race children. Sandra promoting mixed-race adoption and not downgrading the idea it also gives the children a better life and out of the adoption homes. Minority children tend to stay in foster care longer than white children, in America; on average out 110,000 who need permanent homes 56 percent are black and 9 percent are hispanic. Other ideas to get these minority children out of foster care is matching-race, but that is difficult and hard to come by sometimes. These matching-race also help the children better understand their identity and background of their culture or skin color per say. In the book, The Bean Trees, Taylor does not really face struggle

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.

The Leavers by Lisa Ko is an important narrative that helped to deepen my understanding of transracial adoption by highlighting the complex challenges faced by both the adoptive parents and the adoptees. Throughout the book, Daniel’s experiences as a transracial adoptee showcase issues such as culture and identity loss, as well as microaggressions and racism. In Ridgeborough, Daniel encounters a profound loss of his culture as a Chinese American, due to the separation from his birth mother, Polly, and because he is now living with White Americans. In Ridgeborough Peter and Kay make it clear that Daniel should be speaking in English, “English, Peter would warn”(49).

Finally, transracial adoption causes poor socio-economic factors, as well as psychological, emotional, and mental factors that confront the adoptee as an adult, as well as facing racism and racial identity issues. Transracial aboriginal research has yet to

Many critics of Transracial adoption debate that white families are not capable to benefit black children develop a black identity role. Because white people do not know the feeling of having been discriminated or criticized among black children. So the author feels that white people cannot

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.

There was a court case, Baby Girl v. Adoptive Couple, in which a child who was partially Cherokee Indian, because of her father, and Hispanic, because of her mother. The adoption of Baby Girl was a difficult one due to the fact that she has an ancestry of Cherokee Indian. Therefore, under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the adoption of Baby Girl seemed impossible because Biological Father had the right to have custody of his child, Baby Girl, if he chose to. So, the court greatly sees that by giving Baby Girl back to Biological Father would be in the child’s best interest under the ICWA, because there is the assumption that if she is with her Biological Father and her culture, she will not suffer any type of emotional distress. For

I do not believe race should be a deciding factor in an adoption placement, if you have people who can and are willing to provide a stable and loving environment to a child not of their same race, they should be able to, it beats the alternative of a child sitting in foster care or adoption facility waiting on parents of the same race and risk reaching a less adoptive age. Also, people should not be discouraged from adopting children of a different race than them.

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?

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)

Before the 1970’s adoption between race was not popular. Then suddenly there was a shortage of Caucasian babies and parents trying to adopt had to look elsewhere. Many factors took place for the shortage to happen including the legalization of abortion in 1973, the increased use of contraceptives, and the changing social attitudes that led more unmarried white women to keep their children rather than give them up for adoption (“Adoption”). In 1994 Congress passed the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA), prohibiting any federally assisted adoption agency from denying an adoption based on the race of the child or of the adoptive parents. In 1996 this act was amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions (IEP), which allows agencies to

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

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a childless couple wanting to adopt a baby—it would certainly be a wonderful, life-changing decision for both the parents and the child—but this still leaves a fairly large group of older children without a home to call their own. “Because of changes in legislation and policies regarding child welfare, increasing numbers of older children are being placed for adoption. Many of these children are defined as having ‘special needs’ and include children who are at risk for physical, emotional, or behavioral problems” (Schweiger). Statistics today show that the majority of children put up for adoption are said to have special needs, which could be any number of things that might make finding a home more difficult for them: they could be a racial minority, have emotional or physical issues, be of an older age, have siblings that cannot be separated from them, have behavioral problems, or possess a record of difficulty in past adoptive placements (Wind). All of these children are desperately in need of a family to call their own, although some children—such as those who are of an older age or those who have siblings that they do not wish to be split up from— have a significantly more difficult time finding one. Infertile couples are clearly the more traditional adoptive parents, but it would certainly be impossible for every child to find a home if they were the only group looking to adopt. According to Rene Hoksbergen, 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.

People need to accept the fact that interracial adoption is an increasing proposition in today’s society. Whether or not that a person taught much about diversity, it is equally important that a person know color does not matter. Of 11,000 adoptions in Michigan from 2001-05, the last year available, on 78 were blacks adopting whites. During that time, 677 whites