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My understanding of this question is how much the parents were told/taught about raising a child of another ethnic group, not of specific information about the child. Is that right?
We had pretty much no information given to us. Our sw asked something like "do you understand there will be additional challenges to you and the child with an inter-racial adoption?" To which we answered "yes" and that was the end of it.
My husband and I really considered this question, did a lot of research on it, spoke with adult adoptees who are of a different race than their parents (also spoke w/adoptees who are in families where there are also bio kids, since we have 2 bio kids and were also concerned about how that would affect our child). We really considered how we would incorporate information about our child's background (racial/cultural/ethnic background) without emphasizing the differences so much that he does not feel like this is his home and WE are his family.
We felt really prepared to adopt our son, who is from Ethiopia (we are both white). We won't do everything right (no parent does!) but I think we've gone in with open eyes and fairly well prepared.
I was really taken aback though, at how little the issue was discussed with us. I know some sw do really delve into the subject, but many don't, which I do see as problematic. What if we hadn't thought any of this through?
So that is our experience...Hope I understood the question correctly!
Teranga
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