Transracial adoption

Transracial adoption, sometimes called interracial or biracial adoption, legally joins parents and children of different races. Transracial adoption can take place domestically through agencies or foster care, or internationally when children are adopted from another country. The most common transracial adoptions in the United States occur when White parents adopt children of other races. Because of each child’s need to establish an identity true to his or her heritage, however, the choice is controversial and the process complex.

Overview

In the past, the main criterion for adoption approval was whether placement in the new family was in the child’s best interest. The procedure was in the hands of a social service agency, and the judgment of the professional staff prevailed. Social workers and counselors approached transracial adoption (TRA) with the same policy, although they generally preferred to match children with families of the same race. The practice of TRA became more widespread as laws and customs changed and fewer White infants were available for adoption. In most cases, social services operated on the assumption that permanent homes were better for children than institutional or foster care, even if the adoptive family was of a different race. But in the early 1970s some minority adults began to voice their opposition to TRA.

The main issue was—and still is—whether White parents can provide the cultural context and socialization that children of color need in a race-conscious society. Opponents of the process have claimed that regardless of how well Black or biracial children are loved, educated, and supported, they ultimately need to find a place in the community of their race. Though the issue rose to prominence in the African American community, the same argument was presented for Native American, Asian, and Hispanic children. Studies of children brought up by racially dissimilar parents show that while some individuals struggle with establishing a racial or ethnic identity or have difficulty adjusting to society as they grow older, others adapt well and thrive.

Controversy

The social changes of the 1960s, when civil rights laws advanced racial equality and liberal thinkers encouraged colorblindness, also influenced adoption procedures. Fewer White infants were available for adoption as legal abortion increased access to contraception and changing attitudes toward single motherhood became realistic options. At the same time, little thought was given to the need for young children to establish ethnic identities, and most social workers believed a home with a loving White family was the best choice for a child of color when a family of the child’s own race was unavailable.

However, in 1972, the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) led a movement against adoption of Black children by White parents. They charged that a racist system denied Black children’s right to their heritage and was biased against Black adoptive parents because of unrealistic evaluation criteria. Native American leaders, supported by policies such as the Indian Child Welfare Act (1978), agreed that allowing White parents to raise Native American children undermined the children’s cultural legacy and made it impossible for them to develop an appropriate racial identity. Both groups labeled transracial adoption as racial and cultural genocide—a plot by White people to take away the children of minorities and raise them in the White culture. Others argued that life in a White family simply could not prepare a child of color to deal with the challenges and racism he or she would face in American society.

As a result, during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, transracial adoptions dropped sharply. Agencies usually used race matching when placing African American children into adoptive homes, and transracial adoption was considered a last resort. Opponents of race matching quoted studies that showed children of transracial adoptions fared as well as other adopted children did, and that the age at which they were adopted had more of an impact on their lives than the race of the adoptive parents.

Adoption Laws

Adoption practices shifted in the mid-1990s. A high percentage of children in foster care were African American and thousands were available for adoption, although they remained in temporary placements longer than adoptable White children. The Multi-Ethnic Placement Act, passed in 1994, sought to reduce the wait time for a child to be adopted and discouraged discrimination in placement. The law punished agencies that did not comply by withholding federal funds. In November 1997, Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), which was intended to increase adoptions of any kind and suggested that race should not be a consideration in adoptions. The Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 set standards and procedures for intercountry adoptions to prevent abuses, ensure appropriate consent, and coordinate the transfer of children to the receiving country. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 focused on finding permanent families for children in foster care. In 2023, the US Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, reaffirming the importance of placing Native American children within their cultural communities.

White, transracial parents are encouraged to involve their Black children in African American culture and prepare them for the impact racism is likely to have on their lives. Interacting with a multiracial community allows all members of racially mixed families to experience unfamiliar cultural perspectives. Many parents also attempt to prepare their children for discrimination, whether as overt hostility, unconscious inequities, or the microaggressions that people of color experience every day. Adoption practices also emphasize trauma-informed care to support children’s emotional and cultural development. Yet even with connections to their ethnic communities, children may experience a transracial adoption paradox—that is, while they may have many of the educational and social advantages of growing up in White communities, they still are treated as racial minorities in society.

International Adoptions

While transracial adoptions in the United States are likely to involve White parents and Black children, international adoptions often include Asian and Latino children from nations with many orphaned or abandoned children and high poverty rates. Adoptive parents may choose to adopt internationally because they wish to adopt an infant rather than an older child, for example. Since 2020, international adoptions have declined significantly due to stricter regulations and increased efforts by countries to place children domestically. Like transracial adoption, international adoption has caused debate for various reasons, including concerns over racial identity and expense. Many White children have been adopted from Eastern European countries, but American parents also adopt babies from Ethiopia, Korea, India, and China, among other countries, at relatively high rates.

Such adoptions can be very expensive, with costs ranging widely from country to country and even from year to year depending on shifting rules regarding the adoption process and international exchange rates but often reaching tens of thousands of dollars. The entire process can take up to three years. Parents are often required to spend weeks at a time in the country of the adoptive child. In contrast, a domestic adoption through the foster care system in the United States may cost less than $5,000. Domestic adoptions through private agencies, however, may be as expensive as intercountry adoptions.

Bibliography

Barrow, Genoa. “Reexamining Transracial Adoption in the Black Community.” The Sacramento Observer, 22 Jan. 2024, sacobserver.com/2024/01/reexamining-transracial-adoption-in-the-black-community/. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.

“Important Adoption Laws.” National Council for Adoption, adoptioncouncil.org/resources-and-training/important-adoption-laws/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

Steinberg, Gail and Beth Hall. Inside Transracial Adoption. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2013.

Stone, Diana. “Just How Much Does Adoption Really Cost?” Huffington Post, 12 Sept. 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/babblecom/how-much-does-adoption-really-cost_b_1669424.html. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.

“Transracial Adoption in America.” American Adoptions. 2016.

“Transracial Adoption/Interracial Adoption.” Pact. 2016.

“Trauma-Informed Practice.” Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.childwelfare.gov/topics/casework-practice/trauma-informed-practice/. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.

United States, Department of State. Intercountry Adoption Statistics. travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/adopt_ref/adoption-statistics.html. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.

United States, Supreme Court. Haaland v. Brackeen. 15 June 2023, www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-376_7l48.pdf. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.