Choosing Whether and How to Adopt Transracially–Our Decision

Adoption workers usually advise people considering transracial adoption to consider how their families and communities will accept and support a child of a different race, realizing that the child will not be a baby forever–transracial adoption means having a teen-ager and grandchildren of other races. The next question is whether the parents have resources to help the child feel pride in his/her culture, and whether the child will see role models who look like him/herself. We felt that the first issue was not a problem. (In fact my parents had nearly adopted an African-American boy themselves—that adoption never took place … Continue reading

Transracial Adoption, The Humorous Side

My wife and I have adopted five maternal brothers. Their ethnicity varies because they have different fathers. We are in our fifties and Caucasian. It can be amusing when all of us go out together to a public place. We enjoy watching people looking at us and trying to figure out our family dynamics. When I take one or more of our boys somewhere with me, I usually get a remark to the effect that I have beautiful grandchildren. I always tell the person that I am the children’s father. I then walk away, leaving them to wonder about us. … Continue reading