Transracial Adoption - Variety Is The Spice Of Life
Among all non-Caucasian children who are adopted, 73% of them are adopted into Caucasian families. There are some very real things to consider with transracial adoption. Adopting transracially isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. We were not all meant to be the same.
As adoption consultants wit Christian Adoption Consultants we recommend our families having some frank and open conversations as a couple before adopting transracially is really important. Family dynamics, what cultural customs you will or won’t embrace, how you walk your child through concepts of race and ethnicity, and your geographical location and demographics are just a few topics worth taking the time to explore.
In all honesty as a couple we walked into transracial adoption without any reservations or deep considerations. It was our personal belief that truly there were ‘bigger fish to fry’ in this world than worrying about what skin color we were or our future kids would be. Don’t get me wrong, there are many things to be aware of. You can’t have blinders on and think there won’t be issues, questions, stares and prejudice. This is the real world we live in, but, and this is a big but, we really believed that our God made ONE RACE, and we are of ONE BLOOD. So, yes, people may have issues, there will be negative energy coming from several directions, but our real faith in a real God gave us a unique perspective of the fact that God himself made humans, and here we are, so ultimately it really doesn’t matter what skin color we all are. We believe, and still do, that God cares more about our hearts, and he cares that children who need a family are loved, wanted, accepted, cherished and honored. Our desire was to be parents that did that regardless of whether they were biologically ours, fostered, or adopted. We believe that God is pleased and blessed when we choose adoption. I don’t believe God’s sits in heaven and worries what ethnicity humans categorize themselves as, and whether that ‘works’ with the children we adopt. I don’t think God wanted this to be that complicated!
We all bring heritage and culture in so many ways that often are much bigger than skin color alone. I, for example, may be white, but I’m from England, born and raised. That makes me different culturally from a white person from France, from Iowa, from California, from Texas. I’m just saying that ‘white’ doesn’t cover the rich background of my life and what I bring to the table. There’s so much more. Big families and small families bring different dynamics. Urban and Rural. I could list a thousand things, but really the most important one as believers in Jesus Christ is that my wife and I are raising our children first and foremost (and investing our life in) to learn who they are in Christ. WHO they ARE! Our broken society has such a warped agenda, but I’m more worried as a dad about my kids knowing who they are because of who God says they are – chosen, redeemed, adopted in His family, a priceless treasure, never a mistake, made in His image, made for a plan and purpose.
Look at these pictures, and tell me does skin color, nationality, socio-economic status, tongue, ethnicity, heritage, biology or language mean anything to this dad, this mom and this child? There’s way more to this adoption thing than the world wants to give us. God has so much more that He wants to show us, and He’s showing the world something beautiful through adoption. Period.
“Variety is the spice of life” is a phrase from a poem entitled “The Task”, written in 1875 by William Cowper. The full line is, “Variety is the spice of life, which gives it all its flavor.” The poem compares unseasoned food, which is very bland, with an unexciting life, in which nothing new ever happens. We don’t ‘deny’ our heritage as a family – we embrace the differences as beautiful things. Beautiful flavorful spices. We love our different shades of color, we love the different places we’re all from (3 countries, 5 states), we love our different accents, we love our different personalities, we love our different gifts, we love our different birth families, we love our differences. We are different on so many levels, but most importantly we are one family, one blood, one heritage in Christ.
Blessings,
Jason
We’d love to talk more about adoption with you – it’s our heart. It’s our passion. Give Dawn a shout at:
(813) 360-7368