Adopting Children of Another Race

[vorlon13]

Has anyone ever done a psychological study on the impact on the kids?

Considering my current sig line, I'm not sure that's a good idea . . . .

[Shell B]

Has anyone ever done a psychological study on the impact on the kids?

I plan on looking into that. I suspect it’s definitely not more harmful than being in foster care.

[ScienceAf]

So, adoption is a topic that comes up in my family a lot because of various personal reasons. I often see mixed-race families, have friends from mixed-race families, and I see people's reactions to those families. I obviously know that most of you think of it as a non-issue. A family is a family to a kid who needs one, right? Well, that doesn't always seem to be the sentiment. I've seen people say that white people with children of another race have these children as "accessories." They seem genuinely offended by the idea that white people would adopt a child of another race. Then, of course, there is the question of the impact on the child. Is it negligible? Well, plenty of kids have a white parent and a black parent. Why not two white parents and their own dark skin? Do you think there's a difference? I can see it making the adoption situation rather obvious, which could suck, but other than that, what's the harm?

The thing is, it doesn't appear to me that you have to go actively seeking a child of another race for you to wind up with one. I think some people certainly look for children of a certain ethnicity for some emotional reason or another, which is fine, but I've found that, especially in the U.S., kids up for adoption are a mixed bag. If you want the kid who fits your family, you're going to wind up with a Skittles rainbow of skin tone to "choose" from. I think you can innocently enough wind up the parent of a kid who looks remarkably different from you. My point being that most parents who consider adoption aren't thinking of race but rather of filling in the blanks in their family. The problem isn't with them but with people who would criticize them. Still, those parents have to deal with those people and the child will eventually have to as well. Is that enough reason to adopt within your own race? Is there enough pain in having white parents when you're a different color that foster kids would rather wait for the right brown parents to come along? I suppose it's something to talk to an adoption expert about, but I'd be interested to see what the riff-raff here have to say about it.

Why would there be pain for the children by having parents of a different color? Children in foster care, if they have experienced racism, they wouldn't necessarily be different from any other white person, they never grew up in their culture, maybe the fear of racism could make them wait however, other than that there really isn't a reason to not want to have parents of any other color/white. Unless the child is somehow racist but racism isn't natural like tribalism.

[brewer]

I'd post some Dave Chappelle humor but not sure some of you would find it funny. Google: Clayton Bigsby.

[Minimalist]

Has anyone ever done a psychological study on the impact on the kids?

I plan on looking into that. I suspect it’s definitely not more harmful than being in foster care.

See, I don't know.  Children can be very cruel.

[Shell B]

I'd post some Dave Chappelle humor but not sure some of you would find it funny. Google: Clayton Bigsby.

That was hilarious. It’s one of my favorite skits. No Google needed.

[vorlon13]

Me too. Laugh till I cry funny.

[Shell B]

I plan on looking into that. I suspect it’s definitely not more harmful than being in foster care.

See, I don't know.  Children can be very cruel.

That is also true. It’s tough because there are more Latino and black children in need of homes than white kids around here. The foster system isn’t great.

[Catholic_Lady]

I think adoption is one of the greatest things a person can do in life and find it highly admirable.

Fuck those mofos who say it's politically incorrect or w/e to adopt a different race. These children need homes, and it shouldn't matter what the adoptive parents skin color is.

I've looked into adoption enough to know it is extremely difficult and expenssive. A long process. If you're trying to adopt, I wouldn't worry about skin color or whatnot. You kinda take whatever ends up working out. Best of luck and keep us posted.

[The Grand Nudger]

I've only ever seen people of the adopted kid's heritage complain about this, so I'd be more worried about adopting a Chinese kid and living in Chinatown. That's the type of objection I'm specifically referring to, and do people think it adversely affects the kid. Actually, more specifically, what do kids brought up in families like this think?

Ah.  Well, provided you don't shove the little bastard into a dresser drawer and demand a soccer ball quota those people can go pound sand, surely?