Abstract

The perfect starting point for parents of transracially adopted children and those who are considering adopting transracially.

The Interracial Adoption Option is a personal guide to interracial adoption which draws on the lives and experiences of the authors, a white US couple, who adopt two African-American children. Starting from their decision to adopt their first child interracially, it describes the situations and decisions that followed as a result of their child's racial background. The authors' combine their personal experiences with practical advice. They address common issues like where to live, how to choose a doctor and how to take care of your child's hair and skin. They also tackle difficult questions such as, 'Does race matter?' 'Why is a healthy racial identity important?' and 'What do I do if I suspect my child is being treated unfairly because of his/her race?'

An accessible introduction to the complex world of interracial adoption, this book is the first book you need to read if you are thinking of adopting transracially or have done so already.

Based on my experience as the adoptive parent of an African-American son, this book succinctly captures the unique rewards and challenges of adopting a child of a different race. Many dilemmas and decisions explored by the authors mirrored my own journey, and made me wish that this book had been written twenty years ago. Their informative and straightforward discussion offers insights for those considering forming a multiracial family through adoption, and for those seeking to understand and support such families. It fills an important gap in the adoption literature and offers insights for all involved with transracial adoptive families.
Linda Pursley, Adoptive Parent
Much more than an excellent guide to transracial adoption, The Interracial Adoption Option: Creating a Family Across Race is an invitation to the opportunity, joy, and richness of becoming a multiracial family. It underscores how critical it is for white parents of children of color to acknowledge their own privilege and to make a lifelong commitment to guiding their children in developing a healthy racial identity -- and provides a wealth of concrete ideas, examples, and resources for doing so. Fern Johnson and Marlene Fine seamlessly combine the wisdom of scholars with the warmth of loving, adoptive mothers in a beautifully written and accessible book that blends exhaustive research with the fullness of lived experience.
Kara Mikulich, Adoptive Mother
Rarely does a book address the particular challenges of parenting children adopted into a family of a different race. This work eloquently weaves together cutting edge scholarship on racial identity development in children with pragmatic approaches to parenting transracially. Fine and Johnson offer the reader, both parent and adoption professional, a highly accessible map to traverse this previously unexplored terrain of transracial adoption. They provide rich vignettes that boldly and poignantly illustrate the preparation and skills necessary for all involved in the field of transracial adoption. This is a highly valuable contribution to our understanding of adoption across races.
Kathleen Reardon, Ph.D., MSW, Founder and Co-director, Crossroads Counseling Associates, Harvard, Massachusetts, USA
Marlene G. Fine is a Professor of Communications at Simmons College in Boston. She is also a facilitator for the YW Boston City-Wide Dialogues on Race and Ethnicity. Fern L. Johnson is a Professor of English and a member of the Communication and Culture faculty at Clark University in Worcester. The authors are parents of two adopted African American sons and live in Massachusetts, USA.