The Effects of Interracial Adoption on Children The adoption of children by parents of another race has been a topic for controversy for a while now (Perry, 2011). Even though it has been a controversy many people still adopt transracially whether others disagree or not. According to Kreider & Raleigh (2016), the practice of adopting a nonwhite child by white parents has existed for over fifty years and a recent report shows that one in every six children who are adopted are foreign born. A numerous number of children adopted are Asian or Black. With transracial adoption comes a lot of challenges and difficulty, for example black and biracial transracial adoptees often have challenges in life. Therefore, transracial adoption has negative …show more content…
Even if the process is successful, it would be very hard and challenging for both the adoptee and the adoptive parents. Some challenges include, low levels of English, lack of interpreters in U.S. schools, disadvantage of racial and ethnic minority status, and other challenges depending on their age (Thomas, 2016). This may cause the transracial adoptee to have a hard time to understand the people around them and cause them to perform poorly in school. Children who arrived in their teens were most likely to do more poorly in school than those who arrive in the U.S. when they are below the age of six. Not only do transracial adoptees do poorly in school, but it could affect them mentally too. Studies on the health, social, and psychological outcomes of transracial adoptive children portray how they will adapt to their new families (Thomas, 2016). Even if a child looks happy you may never know what happens at school or how they feel internally. Children may be bullied and face racial discrimination. Studies have shown that racial discrimination causes low self-esteem, stress, and depressive symptoms (Dolan, 2015). Another problem that could be involved with transracial adoption is child trafficking. Many people argue that adoption practices that involve forceful acts or fraud is a form of child trafficking (Brown & Roby, 2016). This argument has brought upon attention towards problems with unethical activities in intercountry adoption. Adopting a child and doing such unethical acts towards them should not be allowed. Before placing a child into the hands of someone else their background should be thoroughly examined before they are approved. They should have a trial period where the adoptee can bond with their potential adoptive parents to see if they match because the child's happiness is the top priority for the process. Children should not just be adopted just because they were
(2015) , finding one’s ethnic identity is key to the well-being and psychological adjustment of the child. Moreover, learning foreign customs places strain on a child’s development. This is supported by Patel (2007), who suggests that having a biracial identity can lead to both inner conflict and conflict within society, especially when adoptees feel racially categorized by others. Thus, does transracial adoption impact the child’s ethnic identity?
Over the last decade intercountry adoption has been dramatically increasing, becoming a relatively common method of family formation among American parents. In the article “Constructing Interracial Families Through Intercountry Adoption”, four researchers from the University of Illinois analyze the role of race and ethnicity in constructing American families through intercountry adoption basing their findings off of the U.S. 2000 Census. Researchers, Hiromi Ishizawa, Catherine T. Kenney, Kazuyo Kubo, and Gillian Stevens, argue that intercountry adoptions, illustrate the fluidity and tenacity of specific racial boundaries in American families. In their research they seek to investigate how parents who adopt children from abroad take the child’s
Having a parent who was adopted, and not being able to open their file leaves their children feeling empty. I grew up not knowing the other half of me and not knowing what cultures I could be a part of. Children who have a parent or parents that went through closed adoption process feel confused with their roots, lack medical history of potential diseases, and feel a loss of ethnic identity. My father went through a closed adoption when he was a baby. His adopted parents adopted him, for the thought of receiving money only to receive nothing.
I have gone through life associated with ownership and being talked of as if I am property. My childhood years of education have consisted of alternative assignments to those in regards to family history or the heredity unit of science classes. Within the faces of young children who stand with their adoptive families, I see a piece of myself and hope they will not struggle to endure the insensitivity to the culture of adoption and that their sense of identity will only be strengthened. I lacked an understanding of what would come of being a trans-racial adoptee and grew blind to ignorance at a young age, never gaining insight on the subject at hand. Although the culture of adoption has created uncomfortable and unfamiliar years, it also led me to challenge convention, embrace individuality, and find unconditional love from an early
Interracial Adoption & Why Race Should Not Be an Overriding Factor The process of adoption was legalized in the United States in the 1850s, and over the past 150 years since then, the institution has drastically changed with our society(Fogle). One of these changes being the growing concern of interracial adoption. The conversation about whether or not race should be a determining factor in adoption first surfaced in 1972, when the concern for children being placed in a household with adoptive parents of a different race was first introduced at the national conference of the North American Council on Adoptable Children (Liem).
The current adoption process is broken because of the outlook it tries to portray. The message behind most adoptions is that it is a way to get a child if you can’t get one biologically. This is a prime example of what is wrong with the adoption process. Not all adoptive parents fall into this category, but most adopt for the wrong reasons. Adoption should be about being able to emotionally, financially, and physically support a child.
The experience of many African American Transracial Adoptees with America’s racial complexities parallels the narrative above, an internal struggle to understand racial discrimination, solely due to the skin they inhabit. Transracial adoption, the placement of children in families of differing racial and cultural, began in the 1950s to provide shelter to Asian orphans displaced after World War II; it later expanded to include African Americans and Native Americans (Barn 1273). However, adoption of blacks into Caucasian families encountered sharp criticism in the black community. In 1970, The National Association of Black Social Workers argued that the adoption of African Americans by Caucasians promotes “cultural genocide”, seeking to protect black’s racial and cultural identity (Bradley and Hawkins-Leon 434). Despite thereof, Multiethnic
Transracial adoption (TRA), also known as interracial adoption, involves the placement of children in families that are racially and culturally different from them. In modern western societies, this practice largely involves the placement of minority ethnic children in white adoptive families (Barn, R., 2013). From Colonial Times, through World War II, children from within the borders of the United States were adopted by American parents of the same race. The intercountry adoption (ICA) of foreign-born children, began primarily in North America shortly after World War II and escalated again after the Korean War (Brumble, K; Kampfe, CM, 2011).
I’am the fourth child on my mother’s side and the second on my father’s side. I have a two sisters and three brothers. Conversely, My position in my family is the caretaker. Consequently, being the caretaker in my family, I find myself carrying the bulk of my family emotional stress. I identify as African-American female.
The increase in transracial adoptions comes with the added expense of more individuals finding and having conflict with their identity. One individual stated “…black does not equal brown. Brown is in our eyes; “black” is in our mind (Patton, 2000, p. 60). This individual statement sheds light on how transracially adopted individuals’ may feel in comparison to their race. The emphasis on transracial adoptions and the conflict with identity is important for individuals who decide to adopt transracially.
Kelsey Newton Sarah Condiff 4226-25ZC April 29th, 2022 Struggles Of Adoption Adoption is a complex and multifaceted process that can provide a loving and stable home for children in need. According to the Adoption Network, there are currently over 400,000 children (about half the population of Delaware) in foster care in the United States, and more than 100,000 of these children are waiting for adoption. While the adoption process can be challenging, the rewards of providing a permanent home for a child in need are immeasurable. In this paper, we will explore the experiences of children in foster care, the challenges of adoption, and the process of adopting a child, with a focus on domestic adoption and foster care adoption. By examining these
When people talk about the homosexual life style, typically the first thing that follows is how it is against the religion of many, which then leads people to deny the idea of ever letting a same-sex couple adopt a child. Though in their religion it may be wrong to live “that lifestyle”, who is to say whose religion or belief is wrong or right. Not all people live their lives in a religious way and due to this, sometimes the idea of religion should be removed from the situation so that another point of view can be seen. Another reason same-sex adoption is seen so negatively is because of the idea that a child must have both a mother and father in their lives to be happy and healthy(Fitzgibbons). This perspective is one that seems to be the biggest problem for most people when it comes to the idea of a same-sex couple adopting a child.
Rainbow Kids Adoption and Child Welfare Advocacy says, “Adoption provides these individuals with an opportunity to have a family while staying true to their beliefs” (Ten reasons, 2016). 6. Furthermore, other factors, such as wanting to provide a good life to a child in need, wanting to choose the sex of their child, or wanting to skip the newborn stage can be achieved through adoption (Ten reasons, 2016). [Transition Now that we understand what adoption is and why many choose this method, let’s discuss the actual process.] II.
I. Adoption A. Hook B. Ladder C. The large number of children who need love love ones through adoption is a social injustice because these children defence to have home. Many children who are lonely needs a family who can be loved and protected and the Gladney Center of Adoption works to address this issue by placing children who are without a home with foster families.
Thus, it is important to investigate the factors that aid (protective factors) or inhibit (risk factors) transracial adoptees in developing a healthy and positive racial identity so as to ensure the children’s welfare.