[kazhopeful]

Hello,

We are hoping to adopt soon in Kaz, and are waiting on two kids to become available to us. Recently we have been posed with the question of one of the kids being caucasian and the other being Kazakh. Our concern is how differently the two will be treated by others, and how frequently one will hear "where did you come from" when the other blends in with us.

Has anybody experienced this? How do you handle it? Any suggestions? Would we be any better off to find our forever family in two little Kazakhs instead?

Thanks!!

[waitinginnj]

Reach out to leeinmephis - she adopted two preschoolers from Russia at the same time and they are of different ethnic backgrounds. She may have some insights for you.

[Kimberj71]

I'm not sure this situation would be much different than families who have bio kids and then adopt children of a different ethnicity or race. Or for families that consist of children of various races either adopted dometically or from different countries internationally.

I know we are asked quite often where our two youngest children were born. And as they are growing older our daughter is looking more Mayan and our son less. Neither of them though, "blend" into our family racially/ethnically. But I love that about our family and see it as a very positive experience.

Hope you find some good answers!

Kim

[Mindy82]

What do you mean different ethnicities? Are the children in Kaz not white?

[waitinginnj]

Like most countries Kaz kids come from multiple ethnicities. Many are eurasian (around 80%)and caucasion (20%) I don't know a lot about Kaz specifically, but there are likely Roma children as potentially others such as Tartar etc.

[randloar]

In Kazakhstan the recent stats on the population have about 53% being Kazakh (turkish-mongolian decent), 30% Russian, about 10% divided b/t Ukranian, Uzbek and German, and the last 7% being a little of everything else. So, a large part of the population in Kaz are ethnically Kazakh, which to can have an asian appearance (there are a lot of discussions on other boards about what is Kazakh over time, and in different parts of Kaz). The combination of the above has been referenced as Eurasian by many.

But, yes these kids could easily look "different" than a family that is caucasian.

And in my own opinion this is a bit different than having bio kids and adopting a child of a different ethnicity because that child inherently was born to you and so the insecurities are different than for one of two adopted children that stands out from your family (just MHO). So, I think the concern (at least my read on it) is more of a question of if this would be an issue between the kids (with one feeling like they are the different one). And hopefully in the household this wouldn't be an issue, so in life the concept would be minimalized....

[kdkhopper]

We have a rainbow family (a term our attorney used and it stuck) - our son, adopted domestically is African American and our daughter and youngest son are Guatemalan. We live in the suburbs of Chicago and it's pretty racially diverse so some days we get more looks than others. So far, nobody's been rude or offensive although I do get a lot of people assuming that I'm babysitting our oldest and our littlest two are biological kids - that gets a bit annoying but I love the look when I tell them that they're all mine and not give any other explanation - it really gets them wondering. At any rate, if they ask, I tell them how my wonderful family came into being and have always gotten a smile and a few kind words. I think that if you're totally ok with a rainbow family it can be a wonderful, beautiful experience (as it has been for us so far.)

[leeinmemphis]

I dont know why this caught my eye and thanks for Waitingnj to call us out.. i'm happy to share here. I'll try to post a pic from work tomorrow i cant figure it out at home!


Our youngest son's bmom was Kazak (sp) and he is quite dark while our other son is more asian looking eyed yet blondish hair. It works out fine in our family becuase i am pretty dark complected in the summer and my DH is very blonde hair blue eyed and light complected.

We just laugh and the boys say "Mommy and WIll are brown and Daddy and Tim are white!"

works for us!

alli

[chanibelle]

My husband is Puerto rican, Im black and we just adopted a Russian child and are thinking about Ethiopia in a few years. I think if youre ok with it, the kids will be too

[JosieWales]

DH and I are both CC--he's shaved head w/goatee and I'm a strawberry blonde. We are in the middle of adopting a little Chinese girl, and are in the beginning stages of (hopefully) adopting a Guatemalan baby. I love the fact that our family will be such a rainbow! I agree with chanibelle 100%--if you are accepting and open, they will be too.

Becca

[sadams]

Originally Posted by JosieWales

DH and I are both CC--he's shaved head w/goatee and I'm a strawberry blonde. We are in the middle of adopting a little Chinese girl, and are in the beginning stages of (hopefully) adopting a Guatemalan baby. I love the fact that our family will be such a rainbow! I agree with chanibelle 100%--if you are accepting and open, they will be too.

Becca

Becca,

I have to laugh! I read this to my husband and asked who it sounded like??? We just adopted our son from Guat and have decided to adopt from China. He has a shaved head and I am a strawberry blond!!!! Too funny

Suzanne