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This week there is a good article included in the e-magazine titled “Asian Children Growing Up Adopted.”

The article discusses the optimistic findings about adopted children of Asian heritage in Growing Up Adopted: A Portrait of Adolescents & Their Families (Search Institute, Minneapolis, 1994). The study is the largest ever undertaken in the U.S. of adoptive families, covering 715 families, placed by agencies in four mid-Western states, who adopted infants between 1974 and 1980.

And while the study is now over 10 years old, the information is still very good. And I can’t help but think that with the education many transracial adoptive families are receiving prior to their adoptions, all of the resources available today to transracial families, the way that transracial adoptions are becoming more and more “normal” in our society (especially compared to the ‘70s and ‘80s), the emphasis that is now being placed on teaching children about their birth culture, etc. and many other “advancements” in transracial adoption…(sorry big run-on sentence there)…but I can’t help but think with all those things, that a newer study would have even more positive results.

The study showed that majority of Asian teenagers interviewed, who had all been adopted transracially, scored well in areas of racial identity, psychological health, family dynamics, attachment and identity. There are lots more details in the article, but the gist of it is that this study showed the majority of Asian children who had been adopted transracially were happy and well adjusted.

I thought I would throw this article out there, despite that it is a bit dated, to counter the negativity that often seems to be more vocal. I know quite a few people who have considered adopting transracially, but have become nervous or even scared off by those nasty articles or blogs written by adults who were adopted transracially as children and are now vehemently against transracial adoption. I think it’s important to read the good, and remember that many, even most, transracial adoptees, go on to live happy lives.

Another great place to read about a positive Asian adoption experience is the Korean Adoption Blog. “Mo” is a great writer, and has a doubly-valuable perspective, as she herself was adopted from Korea, and she now has a gorgeous little boy that she and her husband adopted from Korea.

So, happy reading! I figured I owed you some “good news” after sharing the depressing article and obnoxious comments. :)

*The picture above is one of my two Asian sweethearts.