There is a problem in this country. The majority of the families that consider adopting children are Caucasian. The majority of the children that need to be adopted are African American. The number of foreign children that are being adopted by Americans is increasing. African American babies are being sent to foreign countries.
The United States is sending African American newborns to Canada and Western Europe. The families that receive these children say that their primary motive for taking them is that they wanted a newborn baby, without regard to that baby’s race. They say that there is no bias in their country towards African Americans so they do not expect any future problems concerning race.
The average couple seeking to adopt in this country has very identifiable preferences. They prefer to have as young a child as possible. Next, the preference is for girls over boys. Finally, there is a strong preference for Caucasian children, with African American children being at the other end of this spectrum. Other races and mixed race children are all somewhere in the middle. Skin color is a very important factor.
I am sixty years old and my wife is fifty-one. We are Caucasian. We have adopted five mixed race boys, four of whom are considered African American. From the very start, we wanted to adopt children of color. It makes us very sad that our boys will have to deal with bias in their lives.
Why is this happening? Some people want any child that is not African American. Others have been led to seek out a child in a foreign land; maybe they are partial to a distant part of the world. Other people would worry about how their parents, siblings, aunts, and uncles might take the news. Finally, they might worry about trying to span the cultural gap.
I am not trying to offend anyone. Some of our very closest friends have adopted children from other countries. I am troubled that children born in this country are being sent to foreign lands because there is not a place for them here. What do you think?
Related Blogs: