There are a number of reasons behind the decision to adopt transracially or transculturally. Some prospective adoptive parents simply feel a connection to a particular race or culture due to personal experiences, travel, ancestral history, etc. There are fewer Caucasian children available for adoption in the United States than in previous years. Some adoption agencies place limitations on single adoptive parents or older adoptive parents.
The opinion of experts on transracial/transcultural adoption differs. Some state that a child should only be placed for adoption with a family if at least one of the adoptive parents is of the same race or culture as the child. They believe this will provide the child with greater opportunities to develop a strong racial or cultural identity. Other experts in the field say that race shouldn’t be seen as a consideration at all when selecting an adoptive family for a child. These experts feel that all any child needs is a loving family that can meet their
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Seriously consider whether you have made any assumptions about people because of their race or ethnic group. Doing so will allow you to check yourself. It will allow you to make doubly sure that this type of adoption will be right for your family. The second benefit of taking time to consider in this way is to prepare yourself to be different because a multiracial/multicultural adoption doesn’t just affect your adopted child. It affects your family as a whole. Your child will not be seen as different nearly as often as your family will be seen as different. Prior to adopting, seriously think about how you will respond to people who are uncomfortable with families that are “different” in a way that will help your child to feel good about himself or herself and the entire family as a