Interracial Adoption

Interracial adoption is when an adoptive parent of one race or ethnicity adopts a child of a different race or ethnicity. Interracial adoptions can be a beautiful experience, but they are not appropriate for all prospective adoptive parents. If you are considering an interracial adoption, you should discuss this in detail with your home study provider during the home study process. Some of the topics to be discussed include:

• The racial makeup of your family
• The racial makeup of your community
• Your perspective on race and racism
• The perspective of your family and close friends on race and racism
• Your willingness to learn about the history and customs of another race or ethnicity
• Your comfort level of answering questions about your “visible” adoption

If you ultimately decide that interracial adoption is appropriate for you, you should let your agency know. You should also be aware that birth parents have the ability to specify the desired race of the adoptive parents for their child, so both sides will need to be open to an interracial adoption in order for a match to be made.