[alliej]

My husband and I are on our second adoption and we are adopting from the Marshall Islands. One of the things we need to do is hear about experiences from families who have adopted children from different cultures (for example: Adopted a child from Guatemala and one from Russia). I would be grateful if you fit this description and wouldn't mind sharing your experiences.

Thank you,
Kim

[annaguat]

I will PM you. Anna

[mombyfaith]

Our DD is from Guatemala and our DS is from Vietnam and we feel we have the best of all 3 worlds (have 3 bio's).
We embrace all 3 cultures and we absolute love it.
Our home is filled with both Guatemalan & Vietnamese decor and we also cook dishes from both their countries. My children couldn't be any closer if they were bio siblings.
I am just excited to think where God might lead us to next!

[ohanagirl]

Hi Kim! We looked at Marshall Islands as well. The one thing I wondered about was the birth mother/family contact with the Marshall Islands and how that would impact our daughter from Guatemala if we are never able to make contact with her birthmom. With the Marshall Islands Adoption how involved is the birth family when you come home? Are there visits? How does that work? Just curious- I did not mean to piggy back off your thread!
Anyways I will be interested in reading how everyone blends all the cultures! Best of luck!
-Amy

[alliej]

We will be able to meet the birth family and birth mother. The goal is to keep connections with them throughout our son's life. We have been told that some birth mothers choose not to be contacted and we hope that is not the case with our son. The visits are really up to us and we do plan on returning to the Marshall Islands at some point in our son's life. We are required to send letters/pictures at least four times a year and we are happy to do so. We have asked ourself the same question regarding how our daughter will feel not being able to visit her birth family. It will be a learn as we go process with that situation but we do hope to be able to meet her birth mother at some point it will just be harder to make happen. I do think it will help her to understand her story better when she is able to witness her brother's story. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have regarding our Marshall Island adoption. We are really excited about welcoming another child into our family.

Kim

[ohanagirl]

That sounds great Kim! I hope I did not come across critical- it was truly just something rolling around in my head as we considered Marshall Islands. My understanding is there is just one US agency approved there- is that correct? I will PM you sometime as we get closer to making a decision but in the meantime Congratulations!!! I hope you have your little one home very soon!

[proudmommyof 2]

We've adopted from Russia and Korea, and the kids have such a mix of traditions and heritages in our house that they consider each their own. I don't think that my boys understand completely that they don't get to be Korean, too. Claire thinks all brothers are from Russia. They each know (a very limited number) of words in both languages.

[alliej]

Originally Posted by ohanagirl

That sounds great Kim! I hope I did not come across critical- it was truly just something rolling around in my head as we considered Marshall Islands. My understanding is there is just one US agency approved there- is that correct? I will PM you sometime as we get closer to making a decision but in the meantime Congratulations!!! I hope you have your little one home very soon!

You were not critical at all. There is just one agency. Yes, please feel free to PM me with any questions.

[kirbystarcat]

Our daughter is Guatemalan and our son is Vietnamese. We expose both children to both cultures. One of our son's favorite toys right now is one of our daughter's Spanish speaking dolls. Unfortunately, we do not have any birthfamily information for either of our children. I hope having each other and being in similar circumstances will make dealing with this less difficult for our children as they get older.
My husband actually went into our first adoption wanting to adopt two children from different cultures. He wanted them to share in the fact that they are each adopted transculturally and transracially, but he wanted each to have their "own" culture.
Privately, I struggle sometimes. Maybe it is just because I have learned about it longer and it feels more comfortable to me or because I have a larger circle of friends with children from Guatemala than from Vietnam or because I prefer Guatemalan food to Vietnamese food, but secretly I enjoy Guatemalan culture more than Vietnamese. I am trying to come to terms with that and adjust my behaviors and such accordingly because the last thing I want is for DS to think I favor DD's culture.
Best wishes with your adoption.

[DaniWestRN]

I don't know that I have much advice yet as my children are still young, but we have an Ethiopian DD, a Guatemalan DS, and a Chinese DD. We are presently exposing all the children to all three cultures. We hope to take all our children to visit all three countries in the future (hopefully multiple times).

[Devora]

The one thing I wondered about was the birth mother/family contact with the Marshall Islands and how that would impact our daughter from Guatemala if we are never able to make contact with her birthmom.

You might want to go to the Informed Adoption Advocates website and read the article on "Research on Adopted Siblings and Families". It's in the Raising an Internationally Adopted Child section. It summaries a study that looked at precisely this dynamic -- what it's like for adopted siblings who have different first/birth parent and different levels of open contact with them, including situations where one child has regular contact and the other has none. It is based on in depth interviews with adopted adolescents and is part of the largest longitudinal adoption study in the US. I think the findings will offer you (and others) some insight and reassurance about this. Overall, it seems like the experience of the adolescents is very positive with siblings who have no contact usually being included in contact with the other sibling's family and getting something through that vicarious connection.

[alliej]

Originally Posted by Devora

You might want to go to the Informed Adoption Advocates website and read the article on "Research on Adopted Siblings and Families". It's in the Raising an Internationally Adopted Child section. It summaries a study that looked at precisely this dynamic -- what it's like for adopted siblings who have different first/birth parent and different levels of open contact with them, including situations where one child has regular contact and the other has none. It is based on in depth interviews with adopted adolescents and is part of the largest longitudinal adoption study in the US. I think the findings will offer you (and others) some insight and reassurance about this. Overall, it seems like the experience of the adolescents is very positive with siblings who have no contact usually being included in contact with the other sibling's family and getting something through that vicarious connection.

Thank you so much for this information. What a wonderful website and this article is just what I was looking for.