Hello There and Welcome to the boards!
You will find a wealth of information here as yousurf around. We are a CC family who has been blessed w/ an AA baby girl almost one year ago. I say blessed because that is exactly what it has been...A BLESSING.
Our family did not begin this adoption process thinking that we would adopt an AA child, in fact quite the opposite! God had other plans and I am so glad that we listened to what He had for our lives.
As for the challenges....Mostly, the challenges reside in my own mind. I find myself looking at others and gauging their reaction to our family. This is wrong and I shouldn't do it. No man can tell what another is thinking. Regardless, I find myself doing it over and over. Most respond with a huge smile, but occasionally you catch a glimpse that makes you so angry you could just burst.
Be prepared to be looked at, a lot, especially in public. People constantly comment on our daughter saying how cute she is, or where is she from, or ask her name - anything to start the conversation. Now, let me say she is a BEAUTIFUL child. I believe that people would be drawn to her, if she had a Mother who shared her skin color. However with the three of us looking different, people can't help but look. It used to concern me - that we would stand out too much. Now, I see it as an asset. When people ask, and yes they will ask, I use it as an opportunity to tell them how God has blessed our life with her. It is also a great chance to tell them about adoption. Many people will tell you that they've "thought of adopting".
You won't believe the opportunities that you get to talk with people who would have never approached you before. Your world opens up and you begin to care about topics that never interested you before. Race starts to matter to you. Before our daughter, I rarely thought of race. Issues that are important to the group of people who share the same race as your child become important to you. You will begin to seek out REAL relationships with those who share your child's race. You feel this relation, a kinship with a total different group of people than ever before.
One thing that I worried about before we got our daughter was hair. An AA co-worker of my husband put into words exactly how I felt..."How's your wife going to know how to do a black baby's hair?" 10 months into it, I can confidently say to you DO NOT FEAR! There are great websites out there and so many people are helpful and willing to offer advice.
I could talk for days on this subject. If you want to chat more, PM me. I also have a great web blog that I read for inspiration on transracial adoption. Scroll down to the Transracial blog and don't forget to check out the Ethiopian blog.
http://www.adoptionblogs.com/