Transracial Adoption Issues That May Arise and Tips to Overcome Them
By Bruce Kong
At this point, you may have already considered placing your child at your local adoption agencies, and well done, you’re close to where you need to be, and the work is almost finished. But there is still one important thing to address in the process; reviewing family portfolios. Fortunately, when you work with an adoption in San Antonio or an adoption in Austin, you will receive the resources that guide you to understand what to look for in a family. Most birth mothers will choose an infertile couple, or if the birth mother wants her child to experience life with siblings – they will select a family with children.
Your options for choosing a family are limitless, and adoption agencies will work around your timing to ensure everything works out for you and your baby. And the best part is that you can choose to have an open adoption, meaning that you and the adopting parents can communicate before, during, and after the adoption process.
But birth mothers will choose a transracial adoption, too: meaning that a birth mother can decide for their child to be raised by parents of a different race and ethnicity. And that may be the most beautiful thing a birth mother can do for her child. But that does not mean that a child who is adopted in the traditional sense is not beautiful either. Any family an adoptee goes to will be loved unconditionally regardless of race.
Let’s focus on a transracial adoption for a minute, though. In a perfect world, we like to think that the outcome of transracial adoptions is flawless – but issues will arise – adopting parents will need to understand how to work together to find a solution.
Issues That May Come Up During Your Transracial Adoption
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Lack of Diversity
It’s not uncommon for an adoptee to experience an identity crisis; at times, being raised by parents of another race will leave the adoptee feeling like they do not belong in the family. The lack of diversity will harm their life. The matter at hand, while simply an identity crisis, can also turn into the adoptee not having role models of the same race to seek comfort and guidance.
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Racism
This may come as no surprise, but racism will play a role in the few main issues in transracial adoption. Unfortunately, discrimination and stereotypes against the adoptee generally come from the adopting family members. And it’s something that is not decreed. And as much as adoptees would love for their adopting parents to advocate for them, sometimes it will be hard for parents to understand racism.
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Lack of Birth Culture
Adoptees will feel they are being tugged to both sides of races. Losing their sense of heritage and history to their culture of origin plays a factor in experiencing an identity crisis. A loss like this can cause adoptees to forget their origin or roots.
Finding Solutions for Your Transracial Adoption
It may seem difficult; however, solutions to transracial adoption issues come easier than we think. Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of effort to define the struggles of the adoptee. Racism can be waived and avoided if adopting families can stray from racial slurs and stereotypes. But our unconscious bias will play a role when we least expect it, and suddenly words that were never meant to cause any harm can bleed from our mouths.
As adoptive parents, they must step outside their comfort zones and ensure that a diverse community is there for the child to become exploited. Books, movies, and TV shows will only do so much to help an adoptee feel comfortable with their surroundings. It is the parent’s responsibility to concern themselves with their child’s level of comfort and happiness.
Creating a Brighter Future for Your Child
Maintaining the happiness of an adoptee is a hard job, and the early stages of it will show. There are moments when an adoptee will withdraw their emotions and thoughts from their adoptive family, which can lead to negative results in the child’s life. There are resources available for adoptive parents struggling to help their adopted child. They decide how much work they are willing to put into their child’s joy.
As an expectant woman or birth parent, to learn more about adoption, contact Adoption Choices of Texas. You can call us at 945-444-0333, text us at 945-444-0333, or email us here. If you are hoping to adopt, please visit us here. We look forward to helping you through your adoption journey!
Adoption Choices of Texas es la única agencia de adopción con servicios completamente en esapñol en el estado de Texas. Si está embarazada y necesita ayuda, llámenos o envíenos un mensaje de texto y uno de nuestros especialistas en adopción podrá ayudarlo. Podemos ayudarte con la adopcion de niños. Para obtener más información sobre el proceso de adopción como una mujer embarazada o una madre biológica, comuníquese con Adoption Choices of Texas. Para español llamar: 888-510-5029
