Preparing for a Beautiful Brown baby!

This is a short & sweet, educational article off of My Brown Baby [dot] com by Rachel Garlinghouse discussing how to prepare for a transracial adoption. It is good advice, so I decided to share with you!

By RACHEL GARLINGHOUSE

Q: What can adoptive parents do to prepare for a transracial adoption?
A: Adoptive parents are often unprepared for transracial adoption for several reasons, two of which include that adoption agencies generally do not push in-depth transracial adoption education and because it’s easier to believe the world is colorblind than to face the harsh realities of racial complexity. However, not preparing for a child of another race is an incredible disservice to the child who will, inevitably, face racial and adoption-related questions and comments from family members, peers, and strangers. People are naturally curious about adoption, and it’s the parents’ job to educate themselves, and then their adopted child, about adoption and race.

Here, my Top 5 practical steps adoptive parents can take to prepare for a transracial adoption:

1. Communicate. Connect with other transracial adoptive families. Learn how they handle comments and questions, and how they have prepared their children for life as both an adoptee and a child of color.
2. Read. There are many resources for adoptive families including books, articles, and blogs. Parents can subscribe to Adoptive Families magazine and read popular, diversity-minded websites like MyBrownBaby. My husband Steve and I also purchased a subscription to Essence magazine to learn about hair styling tips and to stay aware of issues in black culture.
3. Research. Depending on the race of the child you intend to adopt, you will want to research topics like skin and hair care, cultural norms, traditions, and holidays/celebrations.
4. Ask. Do not be afraid to ask for help or advice. We have approached multiple strangers to ask questions about black hair. Transracial adoptive parents need to let go of their pride and by doing so, they will benefit from the wisdom and education of others.
5. Purchase. When we adopted our first daughter, who is African American, we began purchasing books on adoption, diversity, and African American history. We sought black baby dolls and African American Santa ornaments. We created a small art gallery in our home featuring brown faces.

Rachel Garlinghouse is the proud mother of two brown babies. She is a freelance writer and college writing teacher. Read more about her family at WhiteSugarBrown Sugar[dot]com.