Search Results for: blog book review inside transracial adoption

Book Review: Weaving a Family Untangling Race and Adoption

Barbara Katz Rothman is a sociologist. Much of her work has focused on the meaning of motherhood—ranging from studies of the modern midwifery movement, to the consumer pressure to buy for one’s offspring, to the Human Genome Project and the impact of genetics on identity and culture. These two interests– what it means to be a mother and what genes have to do with identity–merged when Rothman and her husband adopted an African-American infant. Rothman’s book Weaving a Family: Untangling Race and Adoption shares her insights, both professional and personal, on transracial adoption. Rothman’s title is inspired by the experience … Continue reading →

Book Review: Secret Thoughts of An Adopted Mother

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“Dedicated with love to my son’s mother and mine,” writes Jana Wolff in her memoir Secret Thoughts of An Adoptive Mother. This sentence, as well as Wolff’s chapter “Mother’s Day or Mothers’ Day?” reveal Wolff’s understanding spirit, which shines through her memoir even as she discloses the conflicting thoughts and feelings that we all have. In her introduction, Wolff says that while she was a parent-in-waiting beginning the (domestic newborn) adoption process, she found books and articles about how to adopt, but none which talked about feelings brought up by different stages of the adoptive process. This book is an … Continue reading →

Stages of Birthparents’ Thinking About Adoption

My last two blogs have been based on Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg’s work in their book, Inside Transracial Adoption. I have tried to briefly summarize their explanation of common stages gone through by adoptees and adoptive parents. In this blog I will discuss their interpretation of birthparents’ reactions. Naturally, these ideas represent the authors’ experiences of patterns many members of the adoption triad (child, birthparents, adoptive parents) report feeling. Individuals’ experiences may be different, of course. In the Pre-Conscious Stage, birthparents think that even though it breaks their heart not to be able to raise their baby, the adoption … Continue reading →

Adoptive Parents’ Stages of Thinking about Adoption and Race

My last blog talked about the stages of thinking adopted children sometimes go through as conceptualized by Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg in their book Inside Transracial Adoption. In this blog I’ll summarize a few of their thoughts about the stages adoptive parents go through in their thinking. In the Pre-Conscious Stage, parents believe that the people they know will not have biases based on race or adoption. They are excited about adoption, perhaps feeling it is a noble calling, but basically believe their family will be the same as any other—love is all they’ll need. They believe that race … Continue reading →

Historical Policies and Current Legislation Regarding Transracial Adoption

The Adoption History Project states that until the late 1940s, many African-American children were simply not counted in formal adoption statistics at all. The largely African-American states of Louisiana and Florida, in fact, did not record an adoption of an African-American child (by a family of any race) for decades before 1950. African-American parents felt discriminated against by most adoption agencies, yet were reluctant to establish same-race programs for themselves while they were seeking integration, not segregation, in other aspects of life. According to The Adoption History Project, the first recorded adoption of an African-American child by a white family … Continue reading →

Week in Review for Jan. 14-21

We really appreciate all of our readers who’ve helped us get this year off to a great start! Here’s a recap of blogs from Sunday January 14 through Sunday January 21. Sunday, January 14 Ed shared his success story of finding the right school for his children in Our New School. Anna continued her poignant letter to her daughter in Makala, We Decided We Wanted to Adopt You and Your Brother. I (Pam) did a Book Review: Inside Transracial Adoption. This book is one-half information on identity formation and complex issues, but one-half fascinating glimpses into real experiences of transracial … Continue reading →

Book Review: Inside Transracial Adoption

Can a mother duck raise a swan to swim like a swan? By educating herself about swans, telling her child about swans? Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall would suggest that she cannot. What she can do very well, however, is teach the young swan all the important things about how to be a bird. She can love him, and she can be his real mother. But to have him be comfortable as a swan, ultimately she will have to let him spend time with and learn from swans. Steinberg and Hall are the authors of Inside Transracial Adoption(c.2000,Perspectives Press). Steinberg … Continue reading →

When a Child Makes a Racist Taunt To Another Child

No matter how much we read about adoption, there is a tremendous tendency to believe that your own kids are not getting questions or comments about race or adoption. The last few blogs have talked about helping to avoid stereotypes in children by having diverse books, dolls, and posters in their environment, and by specific actions and discussions to help kids develop empathy and learn about the contributions people of various races have made and are making to our society. Now I will mention some suggestions for a time when a child actually says or hears a racist comment or … Continue reading →

Swan Rides the Love Boat

Swans are a type of bird that is thought to mate for life. How romantic! But one slightly confused swan in Germany has fallen in love with a boat. Petra is a black swan who spends her winters at a zoo in Muenster, Germany. During the summer of 2006, she found true love… with a swan-shaped paddleboat. When winter came that year, Petra refused to leave her beloved. Zoo officials had to bring both boat and swan into the zoo. (The boat’s owner gave it up so Petra could keep her darling.) Fast forward to 2008. A few months ago, … Continue reading →

A Child’s Stages of Thinking about What It Means to Be Adopted

In their book Inside Transracial Adoption, Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall (both adoptive parents) look at attitudes toward adoption in general, and then transracial adoption in particular, as going through several stages. Steinberg and Hall name these stages as: Pre-Conscious, Contact, Disintegration, Internalization, Immersion/Emerging. The authors look at what these stages might mean for the adoptee, adoptive parent and birthparent. I will try to give a brief and easy-to-read summary here some of what they say about issues of adopted children, then my next blog will discuss adoptive parents. In the Pre-Conscious Stage, the child knows only his/her own family … Continue reading →