BIPOC Adoption

West Hills has a number of transracial adopted families, and we have found these resources to be helpful. We aim to:

  1. Build relationships with adopted children by learning about their interests and favorite things.

  2. Remember that every adoption story starts with brokenness, and that there is both joy and grief in adoption. In international adoption, the loss of country and culture is a significant added loss for adopted children.

  3. Remember that details of an adopted child story (prior to adoption) are usually private, and some things are painful to remember so it might be best not to pry. Above all else, we seek to hold any information that is shared with tenderness and compassion.

  4. Know that being part of a white family does not shield an adopted child of color from experiencing racism.

  5. Refrain from telling adopted children that they are lucky to have been adopted, since they may have complex and changing feelings regarding adoption.

articles to read

  1. “Suffer the Little Children”: Adoption and Toxic Gratitude

  2. Stories of Transracial Adoptees

  3. The Hardest Part About Growing Up As a Transracial Adoptee

  4. Dear Adoption

  5. Straddling Two Worlds: Transracial Adoption and the Authenticity of Blackness

  6. “Who’s Your Real Mother?” And Other Things To Never Say To An Adoptee

ethical problems surrounding adoption

  1. The Wall: A Map Of Adoption Ethics According to Me (Part One)

  2. How the Christian Orphan Care Movement May Be Enabling Child Abandonment