 |
Adopting Across Ethnic Lines
by Luke Frolich
http://www.tlcadoptions.com
Bringing a new baby or child into a family can be a
challenging choice, especially if the child is adopted.
Most parents will be stressed and full of self-doubt about
how the child will fit into the family -- will there be
family upheaval or personality conflicts, what adjustments
will be necessary for the family?
If you add racial differences to the mix, the whole
adoption process may be that much more anxiety provoking.
For instance, the child will undoubtedly worry about
meshing with a family with so many differences from their
own. The parents may have the same concerns about putting
the child at ease in new surroundings and ethnic beliefs.
However, experts agree that biracial adoption can be
successful when the family agrees to address specific
concerns that may impact the child~s well being. Some of
these include keeping the child in touch with his or her
culture or origin, making adjustments to share or merge
elements from both the family~s and child~s interests, and
making allowances for differences in the child~s behavior
or beliefs that stem from the original family or country.
For instance if you have a Native American child, it would
be a great idea to take him or her to a local tribal event.
That way the child won't feel so estranged from his roots.
Perhaps you could find some Native families in your area so
that your child could have play dates and other fun
activities with Indian children. If you should adopt an
Asian child, visits to restaurants serving their native
foods might be a pleasant experience.
Adoptive parents need to help preserve and respect their
new child's previous culture. Simple steps, like learning
phrases of the child's native language, making efforts to
celebrate holidays or special events, and visit cultural
museum, concert or showing can be helpful in showing the
child that they are special and their culture is respected.
Likewise, it may take some time for your new addition to
get used to the way your family does things. For example,
in some cultures, thievery can be viewed as a ~coup~ that
reflects the thief~s agility or street smarts. If your
adopted youngster tries this in hopes of winning your
praise, be sure to patiently explain the difference in
cultural values and your expectations for his or her
behavior in your home.
Unfortunately, children that are obviously different from
the rest of their adoptive family may become the victims of
taunting or bullying at school or in your neighborhood. You
will need to spend time educating the children that come in
contact with your child. You should also plan to discuss
the situation with school personnel and develop a plan on
how to best solve the problems.
Biracial adoption can be incredible successful and bring
many benefits to parents and children. But the family has
to make an effort to plan for problems and address any
surprise issues and concerns that will undoubtedly arise
throughout the course of the child's life.
Submit An Article
|
|
|
