I have a confession to make.

I am an adoption rule breaker.

I am really not usually the rule-breaking type. I was on the honor roll in high school and graduated fifth in my class of over 500 students. I have always been “early to bed, early to rise”. I don’t curse. I go to church every Sunday. When I was little, all that my dad had to do to discipline me was to say he was disappointed in what I had done, and I was a blubbering mess. I have been accused of being a “goody two shoes”. I have never even had my ears pierced.

And... more

In my last two posts, I have written about how we found the right adoption program for our family for our first transracial adoption, and then how we decided on where to adopt from for our second transracial adoption.

At that point, we had three biological sons, our daughter from Vietnam and our daughter from Korea. This time, the feeling that our family was complete did not come, and I felt pretty sure that we had more kids out there after Amanda had been home only a short while (she came home in April of 2003).... more

Today I am up to the letter "N" in my Transracial Adoption ABC posts, and the first topic I am going to discuss is the ever-popular issue of naming your adopted children.

Naming – How to handle naming your adopted child is one of those hot topics that is often starting discussions and heated arguments on adoption email groups and forums. It is one of those topics that does not have a clear-cut right or wrong answer, as naming a child is a very personal decision. However since it is also... more

Usually when I write on this blog about transracial parenting, I am looking at and addressing transracial adoption issues from the viewpoint of a white adoptive parent with Asian and black children. That is because that is my reality, and because most often when we hear about transracial adoption, it is referring to white parents adopting Asian, Hispanic, black or other non-white children.

Today, thanks to a reader, I have a really cool article to share about "typical" transracial adoption in reverse. This article, titled, "Love is Colorblind", which was recently featured in the Detroit News,... more

We’re almost halfway through the alphabet in our Transracial Adoption ABCs, and today we are up to the letter “M”.

Media – Adoption is all over the media. Sometimes it is good (here is an example of an adoption story I thought was very well done), and sometimes it is not so good (here is an example of an adoption article I did not think... more

Although I would venture to say that not all of us need the reminder, I think that it is important for transracial adoptive parents to think about racism often and to be reminded that it is alive and "well" in our country.

While there has been a lot of positive changes in racial attitudes, stereotypes and racism in society, there is still a long way to go until we can honestly say that we live in a country where all people are treated equal. (If you missed it, here is my post about the school in Georgia who just THIS YEAR had their first integrated prom.)

Here is yet another news... more

I said I was going to write about the blessings and the “good things” about transracial adoption, and I was planning on it and looking forward to it, but today there is another topic that I feel I should not skip over, and need to write about today.

I was not going to write about the horrible tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech, because while it was a terrible national tragedy, it was not really relevant to transracial adoption in any way that I could see at first.

However, over the past few days, as the media has attacked this story from every angle and the stories, pictures and video are everywhere you turn, the coverage has started to have a negative effect on some transracial... more

In my last two posts I have been discussing the fears many prospective adoptive parents have regarding transracial adoption and raising a child of another race, as well as some of the issues involved in being a transracial family.

Now I am going to tell you why, despite it all, I support transracial adoption.

As I sat in a hotel room in Africa, with so many things fresh in my mind, I wrote this post explaining in detail why I feel... more

In my previous post I started discussing the "transracial adoption roadblock" of racial issues. These are probably the biggest and most complex issues surrounding transracial adoption, and are not ones that can be wrapped up neatly with a bow.

A fear that I have heard expressed by many prospective adoptive parents is their worry that they can do a good job raising a child of another race. A lot of times parents start off confident that they can do just... more

You have considered the financial challenges, the emotional challenges and the difficulty of the adoption process itself. You have addressed concerns regarding the physical health and the emotional health of your future child. You have gotten past the “reluctant... more