A Guide To Transracial Adoption: Unique Challenges And Mental Health Considerations

Given these trends, researchers are devoting more resources to understanding the dynamics, impacts, and potential challenges of transracial adoption. Adoption itself can be an emotionally and legally complex process. Adopting a child of a different race can add an additional layer of complexity. In this guide for prospective adoptive parents and families, we’ll explore the meaning and potential challenges of transracial adoption, followed by four mental health considerations for adoptive parents to keep in mind as they raise their adopted children. 

What is transracial adoption?

Transracial adoption is the placement of a child of one race or ethnic group with adoptive parents of another race or ethnic group. Adoption is an opportunity to provide a home, a loving family, and other foundational needs to a child. Over the years, however, the ethics of adoption—and, more specifically, transracial adoption—have become a subject of debate among activists, adoptive parents, and transracial adoptees.

Unique challenges posed by transracial adoption

Transracial adoption can be a meaningful and enriching experience for both parents and their children, but the practice can also present some unique challenges for adopted children and their families:

Self-esteem and identity development

When adopted children are raised in a family of a different race, they may feel confused by or disconnected from their own racial heritage, their birth mother, or their country or family of origin. More broadly, adoptees often grow up in a community of people whose racial identities are predominantly different from their own. 

Some adult adoptees report ongoing challenges in developing a positive racial and ethnic identity. These challenges may be exacerbated by communities and families who lack diversity or a willingness to discuss diversity, individual difference, and multiculturalism. In response to this challenge, advocates often emphasize the importance of “racial mirroring,” or spending time with people of the same ethnicity. These regular encounters can help reinforce an adopted child’s sense of racial identity and self-esteem, especially if they do not reside in a diverse community.

Finding a sense of belonging

People who have been adopted may perceive that they “don’t belong” in their hometowns or even in their own families. While a sense of belonging can be facilitated through racial mirroring and open discussions on the value of diversity, finding a cultural community may take time. Some adoptees may reach their adult years before beginning a more personal exploration of their racial identity and associated communities. In a recent interview of Black adoptees, Black adults who were adopted as children emphasized the value of spending time with other Black people and having opportunities to explore their culture. Opportunities for cultural connections and experiences can be found in many contexts. Some examples may include camps for adopted children and relationships with other transracial adoptees. 

Social stigma and discrimination

Even in transracial adoptive families or foster care families with the best intentions, stigma and discrimination may persist. Without ongoing self-education about racial identity and discrimination, adoptive parents may unknowingly perpetuate racism and microaggressions through their words and actions.White adoptive parents may be inclined to act “color-blind” or indifferent to their child’s racial and cultural origins. While parents may frame color-blindness as unconditional love for their child, this perspective can limit an adopted child’s ability to explore their identity. It could also compromise their ability to respond to identity-based discrimination.

Adoptive parents may want to protect their child from painful realities. Still, proactively engaging in conversations about discrimination may help to combat the ongoing challenge of stigma and racism. This may be more beneficial (and perhaps less dismissive) than ignoring the issue or claiming to not “see” another person’s race or ethnicity. To protect and empower their children, adoptive parents can commit to anti-racism and regularly engage in these conversations with their children and with other parents. These discussions may require a willingness to be uncomfortable. You may also need to reframe transracial adoption as a lifelong learning process, rather than a one-time event.

Four mental health considerations for adoptive parents

The dynamics of transracial adoption can affect a child’s mental health, particularly in white families with an adopted child of another race. Thus, advocates often highlight the following mental health considerations for parents to keep in mind, both before and after the adoption of their child:

1. Validate your child’s mental health concerns

Depending on the age of an adopted child, parents may be tempted to attribute any mental health concerns or emotional changes to puberty, adolescent “angst,” or other challenges of adolescence. Although many mental illnesses can emerge during puberty, adoptive parents may need to acknowledge and validate the unique mental health challenges of a transracial adoptee.  Simply “writing off” these concerns as a byproduct of puberty or adolescent development could be detrimental. 

In its most basic form, validation may look like listening to a child and being fully present when they want to talk to you. As an adoptive parent, you may not have all the answers, but you can actively educate yourself on your child’s racial and cultural background. You can also learn more about how racism and the stigma of transracial adoption can amplify other adolescent challenges.

2. Learn about the psychological impacts of racial discrimination

Racism often causes trauma, which can increase the risk of mental illness. This trauma can also be exacerbated by institutional racism in mental health services. On a daily basis, transracial adoptees may encounter subtle acts of discrimination or microaggressions, which can take a toll on their mental and physical health over time. Transracially adopted children may need help finding ways to cope with microaggressions and other forms of racial oppression. Their adoptive family members and adoptive agencies can self-educate and provide supportive services. They can also provide spaces and opportunities for adoptees to be around other people of the same race and culture.

3. Look for mental health support groups for transracial adoptees 

As adults, many transracial adoptees may reflect on the value of camps, clubs, and other spaces created specifically for them. While these supportive spaces may not be explicitly described as “mental health support groups,” they can still offer benefits for an adopted child’s mental health.The impact of racism and stigma can follow transracial adoptees well into adulthood. In response to this reality, some advocates have formed organizations focused on advancing justice and opportunities for adult transracial adoptees. Some examples include the Society of Adoptee Professionals of Color in Adoption and Be the Bridge, which offers a comprehensive list of resources for transracially adopted people of color. 

4. Contact a mental health professional for more support

Even with ongoing self-education and community resources, many transracial adoptive families enlist the help of a therapist to navigate this learning experience. Some mental health professionals specialize in working with multiracial families and transracial adoptees, sometimes inspired by their personal experiences with adoption. 

Many parents and families prefer online therapy as an alternative to in-person services. Using a digital platform like BetterHelp, you can connect with a licensed therapist within a few days of completing a brief questionnaire. Every BetterHelp therapist has at least three years of professional experience. Busy adoptive families may find online therapy to be more convenient since they can attend sessions from the comfort of home. 

A growing body of research demonstrates the effectiveness of online therapy for a range of mental health concerns and conditions. This includes a 2019 study of a therapist-assisted online parenting strategies program (TOPS) for parents of adolescents with clinical anxiety or depression. TOPS consists of online modules and coaching via videoconferencing, aiming to improve parents’ understanding of anxiety and depression, parent-adolescent relationships, and communication strategies. 

After the pilot program, the researchers concluded that TOPS was acceptable to parents and youth mental health workers. More research is needed to assess the effectiveness and long-term value of TOPS and other therapist-guided programs for parents, but this study illustrates that online interventions are feasible.