More on the Transracial Adoption ABCs from the letter "C"...

Closed Adoption- Closed adoption is when no identifying information is shared between the adoptive parents and the birth parents. There is no contact, and records are sealed. This used to be “the norm” in domestic adoptions, but now semi-open (some contact between birth and adoptive parents, such as letters and pictures through the agency) and fully open (adoptive and birth parents have each other’s full info and send letters, talk on phone and have visits) are more common, and considered to often be in the best interest of the child.

Adoptive parents who only feel comfortable with the idea of a closed domestic adoption should really examine their feelings as to why that is the case. Although every situation is different, in many cases it is beneficial to all involved for their to be at least some communication between birth parents and adoptive parents.

Culture- In transracial adoption,we often talk about how important it is to preserve, or stay connected to, your child's birth culture. Children need to know who they are and where they are from, and be able to feel like they are still a part of that culture, even though they live in a family who is not. Many people start by decorating their homes with cultural items and buying books, movies, music, toys and other cultural items. Cooking ethnic foods, visiting ethnic restaurants, celebrating new holidays, learning the language of the country the child was born (if other than the U.S.), making "homeland trips" and attending cultural activities are other ways adoptive families strive to incorporate their child's culture into their family.

Interacting with other people of your child's birth culture and providing role models of the same race/background as your child is also very important. Doing so helps kids better identify with their culture and is good for their "cultural" self esteem.

Some children are very interested in learning about and being involved in their birth culture, and other children are much less interested. The key for adoptive parents is not to push it on the kids, but to have oppporunities constantly available. It's also important for adoptive parents to show that their child's culture is important to the whole family. One way to do this is to have the whole family involved in cultural activities, instead of merely involving the one child.

One of the big concerns related to transracial adoption is that children are losing the culture they were born into. While I believe it is more important that children have their most basic of needs met...love, family, safety, food, medical care, education...than it is to keep them in the country/culture they were born in if they are orphaned, I also think all parents adopting transracially or transrculturally must be committed to doing all that they can to help their child know about, and feel a part of their culture.

The reality is that a baby adopted from China by a couple living in the Mid-West USA is going to be growing up in the American culture, and will likely identify with that culture first. However, there is much the adoptive parents can do to ensure that that child also has knowledge of, and feels some connection to the Chinese culture as well.

Learning about and celebrating culture can be a lot of fun for the whole family. There are many cultural products for adoptive families available here (by country) at Adoptionshop.


*Photo from Easy Child Crafts.com