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Adoptive & Foster Families

Taproot issue 40 - June 2001

This is the best book I have read on Transracial adoptions. It offers a wealth of information for every adoptive parent and provides valuable insight into how we can all live more easily in a multiethnic democracy.

Authors Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall are the founders and co-directors of Pact, An Adoption Alliance, a national agency devoted to providing a range of adoption-related services to children of color. Both are also white parents of transracially adopted children, and state early on that the goal of Inside Transracial Adoption is to “provide information on issues common to these uncommon families, to offer concrete strategies, and to allow (readers) a variety of ways to use the material.”

The book’s text was written collaboratively, but the authors share personal stories too. In Section 1, Steinberg beautifully sets a tone of openness and honesty as she describes the beginning of her journey to a greater understanding of the complexities of transracial adoptive parenting. The authors then present the framework within which they offer their material, clarify working definitions, and identify five “core truths” about transracial adoption:

· Transracial adoption is more complex than same-race adoption.
· Visible differences between parents and children increase challenges to their acceptance as a family unit.
· There are predictable developmental stages for Transracial adoptive families which are different from same-race families.
· Issues regarding racial or ethnic awareness and development of positive racial identity must be addressed.
· Transracial adoption is an issue, not a problem.

For the authors, the key to resolving the Transracial issue is “race conscious parents who can find the courage to change their own lifestyle in order to place their child’s identity needs above their own discomfort or fears.”

Section 2, “Racial Identity,” offers a blend of thoughtful insights and techniques. For example, the authors suggest questions parents can ask to learn about their children’s world:

What does your new teacher do best?…What did the kids say when your teacher read to the class that story about slavery?…How do you want to show your birth family when you make your family tree?

Other tips suggest how to boost children’s racial self-esteem, how to personalize our child’s particular culture, and how to use books to stimulate discussions and reflect values and attitudes.

“Family Matters” (Section 3) covers family issues such as family rituals, open transracial adoptions, extended adoptive family members’ resistance to transracial adoptions, and

helping birth children in Transracial adoptive families.

Section 4, “Through Development’s Lens” begins with Hall’s amusing and touching story of how adoption adds complexity to even the ordinary process of naming one’s children. The vignette leads into a discussion of the complications that transracial adoption introduces into many other normal childhood developmental issues.

Section 5, “Cultural Specifics in Focus,” aims to help children appreciate unique aspects of their racial heritage. Following a discussion about cultural differences, there are sub-sections on identity issues related to children who are African American, Asian, Latino, Native American, and Biracial or Multiracial. Parents who are adopting a child from an unfamiliar culture will find a solid core of useful information.

Throughout the book the authors write with authority, clarity, humor, and eloquence. They weave together factual information, illustrative examples, quotations, and the ideas and wisdom they have gained from their own experiences and from their years with Pact. They also include lists of useful books.

In keeping with the authors’ skill at blending light touch, self-effacement, and serious purpose, the book ends with a wonderful tongue-in-check final exam. One question, for example, is: “Describe the history of African American people in the United States from its origins to the present day; concentrating especially;, but not exclusively;, on its social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical impact. Be brief, concise, complete, and specific.”

After the “test”, and standing alone as the last line of the book, is this quote: “The more we learn, the more we understand how much more there is to learn.”

 By Ken W. Watson Adoptalk, Spring 2001