Adopting Across Racial Lines

Please find some of our best articles, essays and reviews on this topic.

For more topics and articles, check out our full listing on our Resource Library.

Pact doesn’t subscribe to the "colorblind" or "love is enough" approach—we believe that race matters, and that parents who are adopting across racial lines must commit to making changes in their own lives to support their children. Topics include parenting strategies, international adoption, building racial identity, and transracial adoption.

If you prefer, you can use our Library Search Tool to search by title or author. All the material in this section is copyrighted by Pact; for permission to reproduce or re-post it, please contact us at education@pactadopt.org.

• "Racially Conscientious" - Parenting In A "Colorblind" Society
  by Terry Keleher (2011 | 124 KB | )
  
• A Long Journey Home
  by Molly McCullough (2008 | 351 KB | )
  
• Adoption, Race and Where’s the Hairbrush?
  by Lisa Lerner (2008 | 117 KB | )
  
• All of Nathan’s Family
  by Pamela, Barbara, Suzanne & John (1997 | 91 KB | )
  
• …and the Beat Goes On
  by Gail Steinberg (1999 | 277 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: African or African American?
  by Lisa Marie Rollins (2008 | 123 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Hair Is an Adoption Issue
  by Pact (2005 | 467 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Is Transracial Adoption Easier for Biracial Kids?
  by Pact (2009 | 47 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: My Child Wants To Be White
  by Pact (2007 | 101 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Our Son Doesn’t Mind Being The Only Only
  by Lisa Marie Rollins (2008 | 104 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Responding to Racist Comments from Kids
  by Pact Campers Listserv (2008 | 356 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Taking Risks and Making Connections
  by Martha Rynberg (2012 | 127 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: To Move or Not To Move?
  by Beth Hall (2009 | 60 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Transracial Adoption, Laying Our Cards On the Table
  (2011 | 120 KB | )
  
• Attachment in International Adoption
  by Susan Soon-keum Cox (2000 | 70 KB | )
  
• Being An Immigrant to the United States
  by Ana Bagtas (1996 | 119 KB | )
  
• Biracial Children and the Emperor’s New Clothes
  by Gail Steinberg (1992 | 311 KB | )
  
• Black Rainbows
  by Jana Wolff (1995 | 301 KB | )
  
• Book Review: In Their Parents’ Voices
  by Rita Simon and Rhonda Roorda  (2006 | 104 KB | )
  
• Book Review: In Their Siblings’ Voices
  by Rita Simon and Rhonda Roorda (2009 | 89 KB | )
  
• Book Review: Pieces of Me: Who Do I Want to Be?
  by Robert Ballard (2010 | 210 KB | )
  
• Book Review: The Colours in Me: Writing & Poetry by Adopted Children & Youth
  Edited by Perlita Harris (2009 | 412 KB | )
  
• Book Review: Why Can’t You Look Like Me?
  by Ola Zuri (2010 | 525 KB | )
  
• Borders of Belonging
  by Sofia Arroyo (2008 | 309 KB | )
  
• Building Racial Identity - The Challenge of Religion
  by Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg (1997 | 116 KB | )
  
• Dealing with Racism
  by Beth Hall (2012 | 0 KB | )
  
• Dealing with Racism: Perspective of a White Transracial Adoptive Parent
  by Beth Hall (2012 | 163 KB | )
  
• Different Birth Families of Adopted Siblings
  by Pam Hutsell (1994 | 110 KB | )
  
• Director’s Corner: INSPIRATION -- in Capital Letters, Visiting Historically Black Colleges
  by Beth Hall (2008 | 120 KB | )
  
• Family Resemblance in Transracial Adoption
  by Jana Wolff (1998 | 329 KB | )
  
• Family Stories: Surprise Adoption
  by Jill Rege (2008 | 956 KB | )
  
• Family Stories: What Sophia Needed, Open Hearts, Open Minds
  (2011 | 1.85 MB | )
  
• Film Review: Wo Ai Ni Mommy
  by Michele Rabkin (2010 | 115 KB | )
  
• Helping Your Child Develop A Positive Racial/Ethnic Identity
  by Jeannie Lin (2000 | 57 KB | )
  
• If You’re Color Blind, How Do You See Me?
  by Kevin Hofmann (2012 | 101 KB | )
  
• Latino and Asian Children in White Homes
  by Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg (1995 | 116 KB | )
  
• Listen
  by Jane Brown (1998 | 318 KB | )
  
• Loss of Innocence
  by Becca Martinson (1995 | 95 KB | )
  
• Mongolian Spots
  by Beth Hall & Gail Steinberg (2000 | 326 KB | )
  
• Multicultural Identities in the Making: You Are What You Speak
  by John Raible (2009 | 120 KB | )
  
• One of Them
  by Kirstin Nelson (2004 | 88 KB | )
  
• Our International Adoption Packing List
  by Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg (2000 | 109 KB | )
  
• Pact’s Position on the Multi-Ethnic and Inter-Ethnic Placement Acts
  by Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg (1997 | 117 KB | )
  
• Perspectives on Transracial Adoption - Transracially Adopted Child’s Bill of Right
  by Liza Steinberg (2003 | 63 KB | )
  
• Quien Yo Soy? Identity Issues in Trans-ethnically Adopted Children
  by Beth Hall (1992 | 108 KB | )
  
• Racial Politics The ?Business? of Domestic Private Adoption
  by Beth Hall, Joe Kroll and Ruth McRoy (2010 | 308 KB | )
  
• Raising Kids Multiculturally
  by Ann Freeman (1994 | 107 KB | )
  
• Searching for Me
  by Lynne Connor (2008 | 114 KB | )
  
• Supporting Transracial Families: Start From Where They Are
  by Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall (1994 | 99 KB | )
  
• Teaching Culture Understanding the Complexities
  by Lisa Marie Rollins (2007 | 104 KB | )
  
• The Godparents Council
  by Michael-David Sasson and Kirsten Cross (2010 | 122 KB | )
  
• The Importance of Support
  by Becca Martinson (1992 | 94 KB | )
  
• The Savior Syndrome
  by Becca Martinson (1994 | 91 KB | )
  
• Transracial Adoption
  by Jim Mahoney (1992 | 323 KB | )
  
• Transracial Adoption - A Response to Jim Mahoney
  by Theresa Hughes (1992 | 108 KB | )
  
• We Are Family
  by Marcia Burnell (1998 | 112 KB | )
  
• What I Learned from My Daughter’s Self-Portrait
  by Elise Crum (2010 | 0 KB | )
  
• When Racism is Part of the Story
  by Beth Hall & Gail Steinberg (1998 | 128 KB | )
  
• White Parents Identity
  by Deborah Haynor & Lori Miller (2006 | 121 KB | )
  

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