Talking About Race and Honoring Birth Culture in Transracial Adoption


When your child joins your family through transracial adoption, you must find ways to talk about racism, instill a positive racial identity, and honor her birth culture.

adopted from china

“I Can’t Give My Daughter China. I Can Only Give Her Chinatown.”

Jin Yu is seven now, and lately she’s been telling me she wants to go and visit her nannies, the women who cared for her at the orphanage in China. Not so much for herself, she says, but for them. Because she is sure they must miss her and wonder how she’s doing. I promise we will try to go. “They are going to be so surprised!” she tells me.

A stack of books the celebrate diversity in multiracial families

Celebrating Diversity: Great Reads Featuring Multiracial Families

Children’s books featuring kids and adults of diverse backgrounds and ethnicity serve two purposes: They show kids that families “come in all sizes and colors,” and they are self-affirming for children of multiracial families. Here are some of our favorites, age by age.

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