[theokcarr]

Cynthia,
We have six children in all. We are both causasian and have three grown caucasian children. We have three adopted children who are living at home now. Our five year old daughter is african american. Our four year old daughter is african american/puerto rican. Our three month old son is caucasian. We planned on adopting african american the third time, but we instead adopted our son as he was in need of a family who was experienced with down's syndrome. Before we adopted our second, we decided to go african american or bi-racial, so that our daughter would not be the only one of a different race in the immediate family. I am currently doing a research study on transracial adoption for my graduate degree, so I am very interested to hear what others think about your question.

I want to share with you our five year olds perspective on the subject. When she heard us talking about adopting our third child and that we were wanting to adopt another african american child, she asked me: "Mom, whats wrong with adopting a white baby? Don't you like white babies?" I had to laugh, not at her, but at how she perceived our wanting to adopt another african american child. I asked her how she would feel if we adopted a white baby and she replied: "I would love the baby."

Good luck in whatever you decide. If you do adopt transracially, you can make sure your child gets regular contact with others of the same race even if it is not within your immediate family.

Sue