Outcomes of Transracial Adoption

In the United States, the first transracial adoption placements in substantial numbers were of Japanese and Chinese children following World War II. During the 1950s, after the Korean War, Korean children were adopted by American families in large numbers. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, more than 10,000 African-American children were adopted by white parents. Subsequently, however, this practice decreased dramatically in response to strong condemnation by many African-American social workers and others. Research on transracial adoption indicates that most minority children in transracial placement adjust very well to their mixed-race environments. Delay in placement and preplacement physical and emotional problems have a negative impact on the development and adjustment of these children. Most transracial adoptees have a sense of identity with their racial heritage, but the strength of this identity depends, to a large degree, on the commitment of the adoptive parents to foster it. In view of the growing number of minority children in need of permanent homes, it is urged that transracial adoption be retained as one viable alternative. Arnold R. Silverman, Ph.D., is professor of sociology at Nassau Community College, Garden City, Long Island. T he term transracial adoption means the joining of racially different parents and children together in adoptive families. While this term is sometimes reserved for the adoption of black children by white families, here it is understood to include also the adoption of Native American, Asian, and Hispanic children by white families. Transracial adoption is a fairly recent event. The first large numbers of transracial placements occurred as American soldiers and their families adopted children from the war ravaged countries of Asia. Weil has reported that nearly 3,000 Japanese children were adopted by Americans between 1948 and 1962, and that 840 Chinese children were adopted, mostly by white American families, during this same period. However, because of international relief efforts and indigenous economic and social developments, the number of such adoptions gradually decreased and had become very small by the 1960s. The Korean War (1950-1953) created renewed interest in transracial placements. Harry Holt, an American farmer, sought homes for children dislocated by the Korean War. His efforts resulted in the creation of the largest international adoption program. Today the Holt program places children not only in the United States but throughout the developed world. More than 38,000 adoptions of Korean children in America took place between 1953 and 1981. Since 1974, Korea has introduced legislation to reduce the intercountry adoption of Korean children and to promote adoption within Korea. Nevertheless, between 1,000 and 2,000 The Future of Children ADOPTION Vol. 3 • No. 1 Spring 1993