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 remarks and prejudice from people of all races. But there also are advantages. Psychological studies have found that transracially adopted children appear to handle the identity issues all adopted children face better than most because, researchers theorize, they cannot pretend to be like everyone else. They deal with adoption issues before the turbulent teenage years. And children raised in such environments often are able to bridge the culture gap, researchers found."

The author then goes on to talk about a transracial family and how Ben, a young black man raised by white parents with both black and white siblings stated, “"I fit into black and white society." said Ben, an African American. "I think being raised that way helped. I have really good friends, both black and white." The article also talks about how Ben’s white siblings also feel a greater level of easiness around people of all races that they credit to the fact that their family is a transracial one.

I also loved this quote that the author shared, “When asked if being part of a multiracial family had any effect on him, David, 13, white, politely said he thought the question was not well thought out. Race, he said, just didn't matter. You must respect people for who they are. "Of course," he continued, in the same tone and with a straight face, "I did have an older brother who was purple. But he died." David made his point.

How funny is that?

The article does discuss the fact that many in society are still openly against transracial adoption, and believe that finding more black families to adopt the large numbers of black children currently living without parents is the answer. However even some of those against transracial adoption had some positive things to say.

I love the metaphor that the article uses in regards to transracial adoption. The article depicts children as flowers, and adoptive parents as the gardeners. It states that adoptive parents cannot just treat their (transracially adopted) children as “cut flowers”, who have simply been transported to a new location, but that adoptive parents need to be “indoor gardeners”, who always remember the garden that their flowers first grew in and came from, and treat them as such.

I enjoyed this article because it shares a lot of personal experiences and shares both the wonderful and the difficult. Such is the world of transracial adoption.

Give it a read and let me know what you think.