Interracial adoption?

Question

In what ways might interracial adoption be beneficial or harmful?

Answer 1

I was adopted by two "white" parents (for lack of a better word) and I am half Black and Mexican. I had no problems with it, and my parents didn't feel any different towards me then if had the same racial back-round. My brother that was adopted 8 yrs. before me and he also had no problems with racial back-rounds. I think that love is love and color has nothing to do with it, besides some genetic differences.

Answer 2

It can be helpful because it will give the child the understanding of another culture and open their mind to differences within people.  It can be harmful because the child may not get a sense of self and feel like a certain part them him is missing.  It can also cause a lot of uncomfortable questions for the child.

Overall though- there are more benefits than there are downfalls.. eventhough i am not able to list them all. having a family (any color) is better than not having one with anyone at all.  Also, with time.. children get used to things, and it won't be so much as the child being uncomfortable with being different from the adoptive parent as much as other people, nosy, ignorant people.. who will be more uncomfortable with it.

Answer 3

I don't think it would be harmful in anyway.

Answer 4

The best way to find out is to speak with adult interracial adoptees themselves.  They do blog on the internet and there is a book 'ousiders within' also broadcast on youtube

Answer 5

I don’t think it would be harmfully in any way either. I think it would only enrich the family as they could learn about the child’s heritage together. I know a couple who has adopted 2 Chinese girls they are in a group of other parents who have adopted from China. They get together (parents and kids) once or twice a month and bring Chinese dishes, read Chinese stories and even celebrate some Chinese holidays so the kids are still learning about their native culture and heritage. It might also open the families up to things such as racism if the family adopting is white and the child is a minority.  

I guess a disadvantage some might see would be that it will be clearly obvious that the child was adopted or people might think the mother or father had the child with another person.

Answer 6

I don't think it would be harmful in any way, you will provide the child with the love and support that there biological family wouldn't be able to provide. But if you so choose an interracial adoption you should be knowledgeable about theire race and be prepared to answer all there questions about ther background.

Answer 7

it will be good because ur saving a kid from a life w/o a family

bad because they may feel left out and may feel uncomfortable when asked questions about thier multicolored family

Answer 8

beneficial:

-every kid needs a loving family

-child will have cultural experiences from several cultures

-child will grow up learning that the colour of their skin does not define their identity

Negatives:

-you and the child will deal with a lot of rude questions, awkward situations with strangers

-people will automatically assume that the child is adopted

-your child may deal with some discrmination from classmates

* I would recommend adopting at least 2 children from different backgrounds, ie. if you are white, adopt a child who is black and 1 who is asian, or native, or hispanic.  That way the child won't feel like they are the only one in their family who is different.  Unless your family is multi-cultural already.  In my family, I'm caucasian, my sister is married to an asian man, my boyfriend is black, my ex-husband was part chinese, so my kids are also part chinese.  My kids relatives on their dad's side are chinese, west indian, east indian ect.

Answer 9

kids are kids.  I dont think it makes any difference what the child looks like as long as you provide a safe, loving home.

Answer 10

Beneficial because everyone needs a loving family.

Damaging because you will not provide the child the heritage and cultural values that it needs.

Answer 11

People oppose interracial adoption because they think parents who can not relate to a child's race can not effectively teach them about their race/heritage and because of this the child will develop identity issues.

I say force foster and adoptive parents to take classes on the subject and provide education for raising a child of another race.  Don't force children without families to languish in the system because there are no families available of their race.

I was in the system and know first hand that living in foster care or worse, in a group home like me brings issues that I feel are far worse than that of interracial adoption and fostering.  I understand the concerns but I don't understand the logic.  Children need to bond with someone regardless of race.

My biological child is biracial, AA/CC.  My adopted son is Spanish/Mayan.  My husband and I are CC.  (first child is his step daugther).

My biracial daughter is now an adult and she is a confident woman who is completely comfortable 'in her own skin'.  The key to interracial families raising healthy children is to embrace their birth culture and race.  It's not enough to just accept it, you must teach them to embrace it and accept it too.  You can't get away with the old school philosophy "I don't see color" blabbity blabbity blah and force that on your children.  In reality everyone sees color even those who don't focus on it.

Since I am white I knew that my daughter would need black influence in her life teaching her how to be black.  So, she was surrounded by people of all races and I went out of my way, an hour out of my way, when she was young to take her to a primarily black daycare.  Things like that, in my opinion, helped nurture her.  There are other things like being mindful of movies, books and shows the children watch.  Make sure they are not watching too much of one race especially if it is not their race.

Answer 12

It wouldn't be harmful at ALLL.

Answer 13

Well 1st of all there's nothing wrong with it at all. It might b harmful 2 the child b/c other ppl may have  negative oppinions of the interracial thing, but @ the same time that can be a positive thing in the sense that he/she will be more sensitive to people and not judge them. Either way the love ur family will have will be more influencial than anyone's oppinion.

Answer 14

I'm not really sure that beneficial and/or harmful are the right words. I have an interracial family through adoption. There is no question that my life has been enriched because of the adoption of my son. I don't think of it as a "benefit" that he is biracial; I just think I am more open to differences in others and accepting that our world is made all the more wonderful because we all know so clearly that differences in race doesn't have anything to do with love. There is certainly nothing harmful going on. I know that my son is likely to have more issues with his identity (he is 11 years old now) than most other adolescents because he was adopted and because he is a different race than his family. I wouldn't use the word harmful to describe anything though.

Answer 15

I think if possible children should be with thier own race,they have certain cultures that might have been important to the childs mother.I as a mom wouldnt want my child teased or tormented by stupid racist people I know there are loving people in all races capable of caring for a baby not thier race but were thinking first of the child I cant honestly say I know  any other race than my owns heritage I couldnt make mexican food, do corn-rolls or dreads,I cant do those things but I could love any Baby.