A homeland trip can help kids connect "where I come from" to "where I'm going." Having traveled with thousands of adoptive families, I'm delighted to share my thoughts on the impact of homeland travel on identity formation.
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In this excerpt from That Kind of Mother, by Rumaan Alam, the white adoptive mother of a black child learns about importance of talking with her son about racism and interactions with the police.
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Racism exists, and it's our job as parents to talk about it with our kids. Start with this glossary of important terms.
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We left our house this morning a family of three, but the next time we walk through our front door, it will be as a family of four.
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Embracing your child's racial identity means embracing his friends, too.
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Growing up in Trinidad, I didn’t use the word black to describe myself. But as the mother of two black children in the U.S., I walk the fine line of raising them to believe they are capable and worthy while understanding that everyone in this country has been taught to discount their value.
Find ways to bond and connect with the culture of your adopted African American child.
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An unexpected emergency tests the strength of a mother-daughter bond.
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"From an early age, my children needed to know where they belonged—and the birth country where they came from."
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Although we knew our South American-born son would face challenges growing up in a predominantly white middle class suburb, we were totally unprepared for what was to come.
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If your family is thinking about adopting a child of a different race, spend some time answering these six questions to help determine if it's right for you.
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My parents were immigrants from Germany and India, my husband also comes from a mixed background; we have one biological child, and one adopted from South Korea. What makes my daughter Korean? What makes her American?
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As the parent of an Asian child, I am constantly called upon to help my daughter navigate between diminished achievements and heightened failures.
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While it might have been “just hair” to me, the emotions were far more tangled for them, with roots deep into the history of oppression between our two peoples.
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Use these tips for building cultural diversity for children in your family, community, and school.
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Talking about racism makes most of us uncomfortable. Still, parents of transracially adopted children should resist the urge not to talk. Here's how.
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Three adolescents share their experiences with open adoption, and how they feel about their relationships with their birth family.
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You can offer your children support—and the tools they need to fight back.
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White parents do not have the experience of feeling vulnerable or targeted based on race, so telling a transracially adopted child "I know how you feel" isn't right—but silence is also not the answer. Adoptees and experts discuss how parents should speak out and take action.
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Teens need their parents' guidance in forming their racial identity.
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