In my last post I asked you, my readers, what questions you would like to see written about here on the transracial adoption blog. I have already gotten a good little list, but would love to see it added to, so if you have a transracial adoption question, please go leave me a comment.

The first question I am going to answer is one that is a common concern of transracial adoptive parents.

My son will be from Rwanda...so would you call him Rwandan-American, African-American, or just American?

Racial labels are a tough issue for several reasons.... more

In the past on this blog, I have had some good posts come as a result of "Questions and Answers". What sort of things are you interested in as a transracial adoptive parent, or as a prospective transracial adoptive parent?

What issues are you concerned about handling? What worries you? What excites you? What advice do you want or need the very most? What would you like to read about? I thought that I would throw this out there, and if you will leave me a question or two in a comment, then... more

Ok, last of the Questions and Answers for today...

Yvonne asked-

I am also interested in sponsoring a child through AHOPE and would like to know how much you get to know about the child you sponsor ect...Thought you might know since Belane came from AHOPE. I hope to one day be able to go there myself, it won't be anytime soon, but one day...

I think it is awesome that you want to sponsor a child. To sponsor a child from AHOPE (orphanage for HIV+ children in Ethiopia, and where my daughter is from)it is $30 a month, and it makes such a huge difference. You will receive a photo and the child’s history, and then updates and new pictures several... more

My dear friend Tana asked-

I'd love to know how you keep people's hands off your black kids' hair since this is a battle I seem to be losing.

Tana, well for one… I would have a hard time keeping my hands off of C, L and J! They are such beautiful kids!

But I know what you are saying… It is a common complaint in the world of transracial adoption that people love to touch the hair of black children (especially babies).

We have not yet run into this too much yet, but I have a feeling we are about to. Mercy and Des were old enough when they came home that they didn’t get the “shopping cart petting” like babies do. In church and at school... more

Back by popular demand are some questions and answers. Feel free to ask questions related to transracial adoption that you’d like to see addressed on this blog any time in a comment or you can email me at transracialadoptblog@adoptionmail.com

I made a “question and answer” category (categories are over there on the right hand side) and added the past posts that were question and answer style and will continue to add new ones there (I think they are fun).

Question number one was a serious one on the topic of HIV and Belane’s adoption….Mwalatka asked,

“Did you tell your kids that belane is hiv+? my... more

Continued...

Ok... last in the medical questions came from “3+4” who asked, “Erin, I just really want to know more about the whole process regarding the HIV status - getting her on your insurance, what doctors you have to see right away, (How to prove to my husband that it ISN'T endangering our other children). I know you've already shared a lot, but more links with information and more details about what it means when you come home (I know not every detail is our business) but that's really what I want to know more about.”

Well, the insurance was easy. It is federal law that insurance companies have to treat adopted children just like children born biologically, and... more

Continued...

Dawn asked, “Erin, Have you experienced any one being uncomfortable around Belane because of her HIV status. I am asking because our daughter who will come home from China is a hep B carrier and I am trying to plan on how to deal with others attitudes. I do plan on not telling too many others but I am trying to learn how to handle these issues. Will you have her in the church nursery? It has been suggested that we not take our daughter there. Give me advice?"

Thus far, no, we have not had anyone that I have noticed who was uncomfortable around Belane because of her HIV status, but that being said, the only people that have been around her that knew about her HIV... more

Continued...

“Reba” asked…”I also am interested in the health care process for Belane. What does having an HIV positive child involve? What is the medical situation like. What is the life expectancy. If you want to speak in terms of generalizations instead of specifically Belane, that works too.I know you touched on it before, but I am curious about the reality of it.”

So far, the reality is that having Belane is not any different than any of our other kids. One of our big worries was taking on a “high needs” child, because we have sort of been through the ringer with our Marcus (who is doing awesome now though!).

Our Ped. Infectious Disease Specialist told us that... more

Alrighty…medical questions. (And June and others, I will get to your questions next!)

Please remember I am not an expert at all…this info is what I have learned from talking with specialists and other parents, and being the over-achieving researcher that I am.

I can say that St. Judes, our children’s hospital Ped. Infectious Disease clinic and the other families we spoke with all gave very similar information, and none that was conflicting, which was very encouraging.

First off, Steph asked, “How often do you have to leave your area for medical care for Belane and how far do you have to go?”

We have to travel three hours (each way) for any sort of specialized... more

More questions! I am saving the medical ones for one longer post all together. Here are a few shorter ones.

Angela asked, “Who is in the school play?”

That would be my Mercy, who is 11 years old. Our school district has a school in our town for the kindergarten through third graders, and another school for the fourth through sixth graders. Every year the sixth graders put on a play for their school, the younger school and the community. This year they are doing a really cute play called “Twinderella”, and Mercy is one of the evil step sisters. She is hilarious!

One of the best things about adopting older kids has been watching Mercy and Des blossom and experience new... more