If you are a parent who has adopted a child transracially, or if you are a person who was adopted transracially, here is an opportunity to participate in a study on transracial adoption. (Please note that this study seems to be interested in white parents who have adopted black children, and black children adopted by white parents). Also note that the study is only allowing adoptees that are 18 years or older to participate.

Cardell Jacobson, who teaches at Brigham Young University and does research on race and ethnic relations, social psychology, and social problems, and Darron Smith, a PhD student at the University of Utah in the department of education, culture and society at the University of Utah whose areas of interest are racial identity development, heath care disparities, transracial and biracialism, whiteness theory and cultural studies, are conducting a study on transracial adoptions.

Most of us are aware that the number of transracial adoptions has increased substantially over the past couple of decades, however little is known about identity formation among black children adopted and reared in white families.

This study hopes to take a deeper look at the identity formation of black children who grew up in white families, the methods that parents use to socialize the children about their own race and the racism they may experience in their lives,
the successes, but also the difficulties that the children may have experienced as they developed an identity as a black person and the experiences that may have been important in the development of their identity as a person of color.

The study will be looking at the level of success adoptive parents feel (or don't) in transracial adoption and the formation of identity in the children, as reported by adoptive parents and transracial adoptees.

The website says that the survey takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete. I think this is a great opportunity for adoptive parents to speak out and share their experiences, as I have not seen very much official research on transracial adoption that wants the adoptive parents point of view.

I look forward to seeing the results of this study, and I hope that the results will show that transracial adoptive parents of today do not take race lightly, and take the formation of their children's racial identity very seriously. I hope that the study shows that adoptive parents know that being "color blind" is a very poor transracial parenting strategy, and that we have learned the importance of teaching our children to be aware of their race and culture and to be proud of who they are and where they are from.

Here is the link again if you would like to participate in the transracial adoption study.