Adopting Internationally is a journey. A journey to family. A journey, literally, to far away places. But this journey doesn’t end when we return home with our children. Our journey as a family is just beginning. And we, now, are not just any kind of family. We are multicultural families, whether our children look like us ethnically or not. Teaching our children to value the cultures of their birth-countries is part of our journey as an adoptive family. I believe that it is an important part of our roles as parents to learn about the people, places and history of our children’s birth-countries and to be able to pass this information on to them. It is my goal to present information here that will help enhance your multicultural family.

How many families are adopting transracially?

• The most recent estimate of transracial adoption was performed in 1987 by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The findings revealed that only 8% of all adoptions include parents and children of different races
• 1% of white women adopt black children
  
  
• 5% of white women adopt children of other races
  
  
• 2% of women of other races adopt white children (estimates include foreign-born) (Stolley, 1993)
  
  
• An estimated 15% of the 36,000 adoptions of foster children in FY 1998 were transracial or transcultural adoptions. (US DHHS, 2000)

What does the research show?

• The research that has been done to date suggests that transracial adoption is a viable means of providing stable homes for waiting children. Nearly a dozen studies consistently indicate that approximately 75% of transracially adopted preadolescent and younger children adjust well in their adoptive homes (Silverman, 1993)
  
  
• In a 1995 study, transracial adoption was not found to be detrimental for the adoptee in terms of adjustment, self-esteem, academic achievement, peer relationships, parental and adult relationships (Sharma, McGue, Benson, 1995)

Links & Suggestions

Yahoo! International Adoption Newsgroup search page

Groups and organizations providing community and support for families touched by international adoption:

Asia: http://www.comeunity.com/ and Adoptive Parents of Vietnam Newsgroup (APV)
Korea: http://www.adoptkorea.com and http://www.friendsofkorea.org
Cambodia: http://www.famcam.org/index.html
India: http://www.ichild.org
Vietnam: http://www.fcvn.org and http://www.adoptvietnam.org
Thailand: http://www.neiu.edu/~rghiggin/Thaiadopt/start.html
Eastern European: http://www.eeadopt.org
Russia & Ukraine: http://www.frua.org
China: http://www.fwcc.org