Transracial Adoption Conference

On Tuesday, I drove an hour down to Brigham Young University for an all day Transracial Adoption Conference (not LDS-specific--as much as can be around here--even though at BYU). These things don't happen everyday! I've counted my blessings below:

1. The perfect timing of the conference. Just before we hope to adopt an African American! On a day Ben could spend with our neighbors.

2. The keynote speaker, Rita Simon. She's been doing research on transracial adoptions for decades, and has very positive reports. Most "scientific" (studies, statistics, etc) information is positive, but the more widely available anecdotal information is negative. It's reassuring to hear the positive:

• All groups of adoptees, whether the same race as their adoptive parents or not, had the same self-esteem levels
• 80% of transracial adoptees (TRAs) and 70% of their siblings said that race was not important in adoption, strongly disagreeing with the long-standing National Association of Black Social Workers statement. Only 5% of TRAs agreed with NABSW.
• 70% of TRAs said that social workers should encourage transracial adoption without qualification, versus trying to place with a same race family first
• All research completed to date supports the practice of transracial adoption (except for Native Americans, whose children always belong to the tribe)
• How much same-race interaction was available for the TRAs did not matter, only that adoptive parents made changes in the home (providing role models, books, etc)
• Results were no different for families with both transracial and biological children

3. The transracial adoption panels. The panel of transracial adoptees, now adults, and the panel of parents and siblings of transracial adoptees were also very positive, bucking the trend for anectdotal information to be negative.

4. Networking. I met some of the parents from my transracial adoption Yahoo group, and some others with mutual friends. Plus, at lunch I sat next to a lady that went to the same high school I did in PA!!! I'm still blown away by the odds.

Now the rest of the conference was a documentary and presentations by grad students or professors. Those focused on the issue of race (think white priviledge and racial profiling), and I found them tiring. Not that these issues aren't important or real, but that they are dwelt on to the point of encouraged victimhood. After bringing up a challenge, I think it is better to talk about how to mature through it than to wallow in self-pity and finger-pointing.

A few standard adoption and transracial adoption controversies were brought up too ("real" families/siblings/parents, best family for a TRA--I still need to comment on these). Thinking about them has been beneficial to me, but I find that coming at them from a Biblical perspective puts me in a different place than most.