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
son it allowed many people to start to embrace transracial adoption after being frowned upon by many people who believe that children should not be adopted by parents who are of a different race. In the 1920s the matching adoption policy was created to match children to have the same biological make up. The greatest thing about transracial adopting is knowing that there was a child who would need a home and a support system, no matter what
state involvement in the well-being of Aboriginal children…as Ottawa guaranteed payment for each child apprehended” (Lavell-Harvard and Lavell, 2006, p.145). Exporting Aboriginal children to the United States was common practice. Private American adoption agencies paid Canadian child welfare services $5,000 to $10,000 per child (LavellHarvard and Lavell, 2006). These agencies rarely went beyond confirming the applicant’s ability to pay, resulting in minimal screening and monitoring of foster or adoptive