Inside Transracial Adoption

Is transracial adoption a positive choice for kids? How can children gain their new families without losing their birth heritage? How can parents best support their children after placement? Transracial adoption is a lifelong journey, complex and challenging. But it can work well for kids and families if parents acknowledge that race and adoption matter and educate themselves to meet the challenges ahead. This book is designed to support transracial adoptive parents in their lifelong learning process. Inside "Transracial Adoption" is the classic authoritative guide to navigating the challenges and issues that parents face when they adopt a child of a different race and/or culture. Filled with real-life examples and specific strategies for success, the book explores in-depth the realities of raising a child of color, whether in a multicultural or a predominantly white community. Readers will learn how to help children adopted transracially or transnationally build a strong sense of identity, so that they will feel at home both in their new family and in their racial group or culture of origin. This second edition incorporates the latest research on positive racial identity and multicultural families, and reflects recent developments and trends in adoption nationwide. Drawing on research, decades of experience as adoption professionals, and their own personal experience of adopting transracially, Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg offer insights for all transracial adoptive parents' from prospective first-time adopters to experienced veterans' and the people who support them.