Dear White Adoptive Parents - A Study About Racialized Female Adoptees and Their Experiences Growing Up in a Transracial Family

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the experiences of racialized female adoptees, in the United States. This qualitative study used individual semi structured interviews to examine four participants. Drawings on the interviews, the author identifies and analyses three central themes that includes colorblindness, in-betweenness and white beauty. The central aim of this study is to examine the importance of including cultural socialization for the transracial adoptee to understand their own racial identity. Also, to explore how growing up in a family of another race has affected the transracial adoptees emotional experiences. The research questions for this study were: (1) How has growing up in a transracial family affected racialized female transracial adoptees understanding of their racial identity? (2) What are the emotional experiences of growing up in a transracial family, according to the women of this study? The women who participated in the study all described their upbringing as colorblind. The results from this study indicate that growing up being taught to be colorblind and having adoptive parents who are colorblind have affected their relationship to their own race. There is a strong link between racial identity issues and negative emotional experiences. All four women have or still are struggling with negative emotional experiences that they believe stem from the adoption. This study highlighted numerous issues and experiences from being a racialized female transracial adoptee growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood. Issues such as low self-esteem, anger, depression, and resentment, all which was connected to colorblindness within the homes with white family and white peers.