Transracial Adoption and Parenting

Course overview

Program Summary: This is a thought-provoking course on transracial adoption and parenting and includes two readings: Transracial Adoption as Oppression: Modern Practice in Context and Parenting in Racially, Culturally, and Ethnically Diverse Adoptive Families. The first reading explores transracial adoption in the context of its oppressive history. The reading highlights the cycles of harm and trauma experienced by children of color from past to present, offering examples that include the Orphan Train Movement, Indian Boarding Schools, slavery, the foster care system, and private adoption. The coercion of biological mothers, the commodification of children, and the lack of culturally competent services are critiqued. Recommendations for practice are offered and include culturally competent services, the recruitment of racially diverse prospective parents, the promotion of bi-culturalism, and listening to the voices of adoptees. The second reading examines parenting in racially, culturally, and ethnically diverse adoptive families. The reading offers considerations for starting a multicultural family, strategies for embracing life as a racially, culturally, and ethnically diverse family, and how to prepare children for racism.