November 2021Vol. 22, No. 10Tips for a Successful Transracial Adoption

The adoption process can be a lengthy and complex one. This is particularly true for prospective parents planning to adopt transracially. Maintaining and nurturing a child's connection to their unique culture and its traditions is vital to their ability to thrive and succeed. With this critical need in mind, adoptive families and child welfare professionals provide the following suggestions on how to successfully maintain these connections:

• Talk with family and friends about your plans, the changes and challenges becoming a multiracial family presents, and whether they and your community will be supportive and accepting of you and your child.
• Connect your child with mentors and role models who share similar racial and cultural backgrounds and who can serve as a source of information and an ally.
• Make new community connections with groups that center on your child's race and heritage, such as enrolling in a diverse school and becoming involved with the child's culture's faith community.
• Find opportunities to regularly talk with your child about race and culture and provide a safe space for and encourage honest communication.
• Commit to educating yourself about racism to help your child cope with and respond to it and the prejudice and discrimination they may experience in life.
• Celebrate your child's heritage and its traditions and acknowledge the positive contributions that people of all races and cultures make to society. 
• If possible, adopt a sibling group; doing so can lessen a child's feelings of isolation, encourage a sense of fitting in, and maintain cultural connections