11 - St.

Hilda

English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Ms. Fyke Lagonoy

RONQUILLO, 32

Rianna G. 05/02/2019

The Truth behind Transracial Adoption: Realities Faced by Adoptees and Adoptive Families

In the United States, about 135,000 children are adopted each year. (Adoption Network,

n.d.) Today, adoption is slowly becoming one of the world’s most important social practices,

upholding the welfare of children, families, and society. To many, the practice of adoption

promotes social and economic security, ensuring a child’s stable growth in a community and giving

parents the opportunity to experience the joy of parenting. With progressing cultural norms,

adoption has evolved into many categories, transracial adoption being one of these categories. This

refers to the act of adopting a child of another ethnic or racial group different from that of the

adoptive parent. Although transracial adoption has become a widely accepted concept today, it

comes with many realities people seem to overlook. With the social construct of racism pocketing

the world, families of transracial adoption experience difficulties in dealing with repulsion in both

personal and social situations.

Humanity is woven together by a variety of cultures, races, and traditions which have

resulted in many disputes around the world. That range of differences put under one family could

initially cause internal damage upon them, especially to the adopted child. Multiple studies have
shown that transracial adoptees experience lower self-esteem than those of same-race adoptees.

(Hamilton et al., 2015). Rosenberg (1965) defines self-esteem as a person’s attitude toward

himself. Many general assumptions can be linked as to why transracial adoptees experience low

self-esteem: feeling rejection from their birth parents, accepting their adoption situation, looking

physically different from their adoptive families, and having extreme lifestyle and cultural

differences from their adoptive families. As an example, Brodzinsky et al. (1992, p. 63) stated that

an adoptee may experience complications with developing their self-esteem especially if his

adoptive parents look physically different from him. Other studies suggested that acknowledging

differences in race between the adoptee and adoptive parents play a more significant role than their

actual race itself. Transracial adoptees who experience this from childhood tend to look at

themselves lowly, being obsessed with trying to fit in with their family and trying to grasp the fact

that they may have to live up to society’s expectation of being as good as their adoptive family.

Following the concept of self-esteem, a leading factor as to why transracial adoptees feel

this way is the discrimination they face outside their homes. As stated above, different looking

adoptees can develop low self-esteem in themselves which can be caused by racial discrimination.

Racism has been one of the world’s most prominent controversies, dating back to centuries ago.

Combining the race and adoption into one persona, someone would imagine the difficulties that

adoptee would have to encounter in living his everyday life. Feigelman (2000) specifically noted

that transracial adoptees are more prone to judgment and discrimination if their adoptive family

lives in a predominantly White community. Feigelman also confirmed that transracial adoptees

feel more comfort living in a diverse neighborhood. In institutions outside the community such as

schools, an article by Timsit (2018) noted that 35 percent of children in school experience bullying

because of their race. Bullying, especially when experienced at a young age, can cause harmful
effects to the behavior of the adopted child. In a research brief by psychologist Nicholas Zill

(2015), young adoptive children tend to have more behavioral problems than biological ones.

Additionally, a study by Eun-Jun Bang, PhD, MWS is being conducted to further understand the

effects that bullying may cause to adopted children of transracial families.

Though transracial adoption mostly affects the adopted child, there are certain situations

that an adoptive family may face in their lives. Addressing incidents of racism and discrimination

is a challenging truth that parents have to live with. White adoptive parents more prominently

experience repulsion among their White peers. A visual example can be taken from sports-drama,

The Blind Side by John Lee Hancock (2009), wherein the Leigh-Anne Tuohy, White adoptive

mother of Black adoptee Michael Oher, was given judgment by her White friends. In an article by

Reisner (2007), she stated that she and her husband went to extreme lengths to externalize racism,

which included carefully choosing where their family should live, what school their child must go

to, and where their family does worship. Transracial adoptive families also experience a fluctuating

amount of ignorant questions from individuals of the same race (Dalmage, 2000; Register, 1990).

Additionally, they are also regarded as “traitors” to their kind, suggesting stigma around that topic

(Dalmage, 2000; Samuels, 2006). Not only are adoptive parents scrutinized in the community, they

are also treated unfairly in court in comparison to biological parents. (Stewart, 2018).

Some people may argue that despite the difficulties presented, transracial adoption is a big

step in creating a more diverse world to live in. Studies such as Thompson’s (2015) and Hong’s

(2016) counteract the claims of transracial adoptees’ self-esteem; however, Lyman (2017)

qualitatively researched on the experiences of transracial adoptees and showed otherwise. An

article from CNN written by Ravitz (2010) also discussed positive experiences of transracial

adoptees, but those stories are just from a select number of people, therefore not representing the
totality of transracial kids. Other studies conducted to debunk the negative generalizations on

transracial adoption have their limitations as well. As an example, the study by Hamilton et al.

(2014) had little representation of minority groups such as Native Americans and Blacks, who

possibly experience hardships caused by transracial adoption at a larger scale.

While transracial adoption opens up the world to a more diverse and welcoming

community, the society we live in today is still lacking in knowledge and understanding to fully

grasp that concept. Adoption in itself already has its many difficult consequences, what more if

race was a contributing factor to that as well? Racial discrimination is still very pervasive to this

day and it continues to bring harm to many individuals in the world. Many instances in history can

prove these harmful effects. As today’s generations attempt to destigmatize the prevalent issues of

transracial adoption, the world just isn’t ready yet. So in the event that a family decides to adopt a

racially different child, they should be prepared for a world of constant observation and ridicule,

both for them and their soon-to-be child. Adoptive parents should consider these consequences,

because what parent would want their child to live a life of judgment? In order to genuinely accept

the concept of transracial adoption, the world must first open its mind and heart to the differences

that have settled the many races inhabiting society. Once everyone is educated and made aware of

those differences, these concepts of race and adoption will thrive and shape a world of prosperity,

acceptance, and love.

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Hamilton, E. R., Samek, D. R., Keyes, M., McGue, M. K., & Iacono, W. G. (2015). Identity

Development in a Transracial Environment: Racial/Ethnic Minority Adoptees in

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[Link]

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Ravitz, J. (2010, May 06). Transracial adoptions: A 'feel good' act or no 'big deal'? Retrieved

from [Link]

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Research Request | Transracial Adoption and Bullying. (2017, June 29). Retrieved from

[Link]

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Among Adopted Multiracial Adults. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71: 80-94.

doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00581.x
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Benefits. Retrieved from [Link]

canada-face-discrimination-in-ei-benefits

Timsit, A. (2018, May 30). Black kids are disproportionately disciplined in American public

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