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(4/7/99)
Couples wanting to adopt often find they can't adopt a child of their same
race.
But local adoption officials say most couples don't care - they simply
want to raise a child.
Kristi Stringham says, "I adopted nine years ago and kind of was just content
to do my own, and I came across a couple of agencies and attorneys outside Utah
that had a lot of babies who were saying we don't find enough families for
these babies. The one issue was these babies were either African-American or
bi-racial."
After Kristi Stringham adopted the first of four transracial children,
she began to devote her life to finding babies for families wanting to adopt
children.
Now - adoption officials say families - like Stringham's - are ready for the
challenges of raising a child not of their own race.
Tom Craner, of the Utah Adoption Council says, "I've worked in the field for
almost 30 years and it was really hard to find adoptive families for, say,
African-American when I started my career. And now there's a lot that are
coming in and just saying, 'We'll help wherever we are needed.'"
The adoption council encourages families to prepare to fold a child of
another race into their family while exposing them to their heritage.
Lynn Welker, also of the Utah Adoption Council, explains, "One of the
criticisms of placing
a child of one race with the couple of another race is that we are trying to
change them from one race to another."
Families who have adopted children of another race say the pros outweigh the
cons.
Stringham says, "I have four adopted children. All of my children are
bi-racial, meaning they are caucasian and African-American. My last little guy
is full African-American and it's a great success."
For more information on transracial adoption call our Family Now information
line at 1-800-575-5751.
