Here is yet another article on transracial adoption. This one comes from the New York Times. The article is titled “Overcoming Adoption’s Racial Barriers”.

While the article focuses on private domestic adoptions and adoptions from the U.S. foster care system, there is a lot of good information.

The article touches on how the views of adoption professionals and the public in general have softened in regards to transracial adoption, becoming much more tolerant and accepting of interracial families formed by adoption than they were even just... more

Here is a great article on transracial adoption and the overwhelming need for more intercountry adoptions from Africa.

The news release is from Brigham Young University and is titled, “Crisis calls for a radical increase in international adoption of African orphans, BYU study finds”.

The article focuses on the work of Jini Roby, an associate professor at BYU, an international authority on intercountry adoption and a transracial adult adoptee.

While Roby’s earlier work found that the African traditions of extended family, kin and communities taking in and caring for orphaned children was meeting... more

I have a new favorite song that I thought I would share with you, since the lyrics are very applicable to adoption. “Lullaby” by the Dixie Chicks is just a beautiful song with beautiful words. I have already seen it used as the music for two adoption videos, and I am sure there are more to come.

Here are the lyrics…

They didn't have you where I come from Never knew the best was yet to come Life began when I saw your face And I hear your laugh like a serenade

How long do you want to be loved Is forever enough, is forever enough How long do you want to be loved Is forever enough Cause I'm never, never giving you up

I... more

I found a great article the other day on adoption.com titled “Interracial Families”. I liked this article because it does not sugar coat the issues involved with transracial adoption, and yet it is still an uplifting and positive article.

The author discusses getting her first “awkward comments in public” with her new daughter, who was black. She writes, “Parents who adopt transracially cannot ignore that, by doing so, they become a minority family, subject to criticism, odd... more

Blogs are fun. Not only are they a great way to connect with other adoptive families, to get a ton of great adoption advice from those who have “been there done that” and to get a good idea of what adopting is really like (from the adoptive parents point of view), they provide a wealth of information and are really fun to read.

There are blogs out there from families whose children are home. There are blogs out there from adoptive parents “in the process”. There are blogs kept while families are traveling abroad to get their child. There are all sorts of adoption-related blogs out there to entertain you, educate you, get you thinking and get you connected to other adoptive parents... more

If you do any research online about adoption, you are sure to come across articles/blogs/stories written by now adult-adoptees who shed a lot of light on what the early generations of adoptive parents “did wrong”.

Years ago adoption was a “big dark secret” that often was kept from a child who somehow still sensed something was “different” about them. Often this secret came out later in life with difficult affects on all involved, but especially the adoptee. Today, adoption is openly discussed. It is no longer a dark secret to be ashamed about, but something many people celebrate. Beyond being discussed in a family, many adoptions today are now “open”, where the birth family and adoptive... more

With my last couple of posts I have been discussing transracial adoption, and two articles from Adoption.com that discuss how to prepare for a transracial adoption and how to build a strong sense of cultural identity in a transracially adopted child.

I feel that these topics are important, not only for those adoptive parents just starting out their transracial family, but also to those well-established transracial families. These resources are sort of like a refresher on child proofing... more

The next article in the series on Transracial Adoption on Adoption.com deals with the things that parents should do once their children are home and how to help your child to “become a stable, happy, healthy individual with a strong sense of racial or cultural identity.” Isn't that what we all want? You can find this article here.

The article presents seven parenting techniques that all adoptive parents, especially those of transracial families, should follow. The articles states, “The seven parenting techniques listed below were compiled from books and articles on adoption and by interviewing experts in transracial and transcultural adoption.... more

Most of life’s big events involve planning and preparation. Weddings and marriage, buying a home, giving birth to a child, etc. all require a decent amount of preparation, and adoption is no different.

If you are adopting transracially, there is an even greater importance of preparing for your adoption. Adoption.com has a great article on their website titled "Prepare for a Transracial Adoption".

This article is great if you are just starting out on your adoption journey, and is also a great “refresher” if your child or children are already... more

This is one of those things that you have probably seen, but I think is worth really looking at and pondering a bit.

I got this in an email (and I have seen it before too) and thought it was very relevant to transracial adoption. I did some research and found that while these sorts of things are impossible to figure out exactly, that it is pretty close to accurate, and even if the numbers aren’t perfect, the spirit of the message is real.

If we could reduce the worlds' population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same,... more