Pros and Cons of Transracial Adoption

Adoption Choices of Arizona is a strong advocate for supporting transracial adoption. Racial identity and cultural differences should not stand in the way when it comes to helping a person or couple create a family. However, it would be naive to assume that there are no pros and cons to outweigh when it comes to considering placing your child in transracial adoption. Here are some common pros and cons when deciding if a transracial adoption is right for you. 

If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 1-480-900-5520 or visit us at Adoption Choices of Arizona.

Pros For Transracial Adoption

• Encourage Diversity: By placing your child into a multiracial family, you will be helping to break the stigma that family means having the same skin color blood. There are so many people and couples who are ready to care and love for a child regardless of their racial identity. This is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved and can encourage you as the birth mother to bring the joys and education of you and your child’s culture to a new family. 
• Learning Opportunity: When you are choosing a family to place your child with, it’s okay to ask questions and make sure they will appropriately educate, acknowledge, accept, and represent your child’s race. While your child shouldn’t feel like they stick out, ignoring their racial differences can create identity problems later on in life. Use this opportunity to educate the family on traditions, history, holidays, cultural differences, and what life is like being coming from a different cultural or racial background. 
• Intertwine Cultures: Multiracial families can become a beautiful thing when two different cultures are intertwined! When you place your child with a family of a different cultural background, this allows them to be introduced to a bunch of new traditions and lessons in life. The same goes for the adoptive family. When they add a child to their family who comes from a different background, they will be able to learn about the child’s diversity and implement it into their home. 

Cons For Transracial Adoption 

Lack of Understanding: Birth mothers commonly fear when deciding on a multiracial adoption is that the adoptive family will not understand the child’s racial and cultural differences or that they will not acknowledge them. This will create identity problems for the child as they grow up and realize the differences they have from their family and neglect of their background. This can be scary for birth mothers as they still want their child to have support and education about their identity, leading women to not choose multiracial adoption. This is important to bring to your adoption representatives as they can offer support and counseling for both the birth mother and adoptive parents in transitioning to a multiracial family setting. Adoption Choices of Arizona offers representatives who are ready to assist you at any point in your unplanned pregnancy and your adoption journey, from early pregnancy all the way to after birth. 

No Community: If your child comes from a minority racial or cultural background and is adopted by a predominantly caucasian family, this can strike fear in birth mothers that the child will not be raised in a community that has the resources or support system the child needs to understand and accept their diverse differences. This can be a really important conversation to have with adoption representatives, or if you’re in an open adoption setting with the adoptive family, to discuss how to ensure the child will have a community or guide to look up to for questions or guidance in navigating being a minority in an area that is not as racially diverse. 

Bullying & Lack of Identity: Children have a lot of curiosity, and when they see a child with parents who have a different skin tone, questions get asked. This can lead to negative comments, inappropriate jokes, and even bullying. This can also lead to insecurity in your child’s identity and frustration being in a multiracial home setting. While the responsibility of explaining to people about being adopted is not something your child should carry, it can also lead to a healthy example and a learning opportunity for children to see that not all families look exactly the same. 

Choosing a Transracial Adoption in Arizona

It’s okay to take time to outweigh the pros and cons of considering a multiracial adoption. Our adoption agencies in Arizona offer great resources to ask questions, get support, and find out if a multiracial adoption setting is the best choice for you and your child. 

For adoption resources or to begin your adoption journey, birth parents can visit us at Adoption Choices of Arizona or call or text us at 1-480-900-5520. If you are a prospective adoptive family hoping to adopt a baby, please instead, visit us here!

Meet the Author: Allie Nowak is in her senior year of undergrad at Illinois State University studying public relations, with a minor in health & wellness coaching. She is extremely passionate about writing, digital content creating, and all things related to lifestyle & wellness. In her free time, she enjoys serving as editor-in-chief and publishing articles for her university’s chapter of Her Campus, the nation’s largest media platform for college women. You can also find her spending time with friends and family, traveling, reading, and walking her two golden doodles. She currently lives in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago where she was born and raised.