Transracial Adoption

Children deserve a place to call home; unfortunately this isn’t always the case. There are almost 400,000 children in foster care; of which, around 102,000 are available for adoption. When selecting a child to adopt, race should not be a factor. A loving family that can meet the needs of a child is all that matters.

According to Statistic Brain- Adoption Statistics in April 2013, there were 37% white, 23% black, 15% asian, and 15% Hispanic children available for adoption. Statistics also show 40% of adoptions are transracial. Transracial or transcultural adoption is when a child is adopted by parents of another race or ethnic group. Adopting children from another ethnic group can be beneficial for all children, despite their ethnicity, background and culture. In the United States the terms, transracial and transcultural, usually refer to the placement of children of color or children from another country with Caucasian adoptive parents.

Preparation for adoption is important for anyone thinking about adopting a child. Some say that children available for adoption should always be placed with a family with at least one parent of the same race or culture as the child. By placing a child with a parent of the same race, they believe the child will develop a strong racial or cultural identity. Additionally, some believe that if adoption agencies have a strong commitment to working with families of color and are flexible in their procedures, they will be successful in recruiting “same race” families. Agencies works very hard to recruit a same race family for a certain period of time but if they are unable to find one, the child should be placed with a loving family of any race or culture who can meet the chil