Research Paper on Adoption Process

“The purpose of this paper is to inform others about “What aspects of the adoption process are influenced by racial and mental characteristics?” As studies show, child welfare systems have been fighting to break barriers involved with transracial adoption for years. Race has been a feature adoption since the early 1950’s. In fact, there are adoptions acts, like the British Adoption Act Project, that specifically advocate for some minority groups to be adopted by non-minority families. When families participated in this project, the success rates were increasingly high because of the non-minority family’s social economic statuses and income (Algozzine, Conners, and Schmin 2017).

For many years afterward, adoption agencies only recommended “race-matching” with adoptive parents which is, the same race placement of adopted children. Individuals who were against transracial adoption argued that parents of a different race could not raise a child with a particular racial and cultural heritage, as it would lead to confusion and “unnatural” relationships. Thankfully, popular opinion of transracial adoptions has changed dramatically since then. There are many social highlights of the modern view of transracial adoption today as a beautiful way to build a family, no matter what races and cultures the family includes. Especially with proper preparation, education, and dedication, any adoptive parent can successfully raise a child of a different race with accurate knowledge of their cultural and racial heritage (Suki 2014).

Furthermore, research has found out that a lot of foster care youth that are a little older understand and is cautious about adoption because feel that they are too old for adoption, believe that people do not want to adopt teenagers, and believe that they will sacrifice freedom and autonomy if they are adopted by a family (Suki 2014). According to statistics, all adolescents go through a stage of struggling with their identity, wondering how they fit in with their family and the rest of the world. This emotional disturbance may be more intense for children adopted from other countries or cultures because the circumstances are different that the United States (Diehl, Howse, and Trivette 2011).

Among adolescence, the adopted child is likely to have an increased interest in his or her birth parents and when this interest sparks it doesn’t mean that the child is rejecting their adoptive families. Some youth are curious about their biological parents, while others have brief memories of their childhood when they were with their biological families. Either way, wanting to know more about their biological parents or already knowing a little about their biological parents or previous experiences is the leading cause for adolescents to experience emotional disturbance when they are adopted. Adoptive parents can respond by letting the adolescent know it is okay to have such interest and questions, and when asked should give what information they have about the birth family with sensitivity and support. If adopted parents are concerned about their child’s behavior or concerns, they should seek professional assistance. A child and adolescent psychiatrist can help the child and adoptive parents determine whether or not help is needed by completing an evaluation (Suki 2014).

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