Ethnic Adoption Essay

In this essay I went through and fixed some of my grammatical errors. I was not satisfied with my partnership paragraph so I decided to delete and start over. In my introduction, I rearranged my thesis to make more sense and added a few more details. As well as in my other paragraphs. I had some sentences that did not make sense, so I went through and fixed my wording. Also i wanted to gather more research on my organizations. My works cited page needed some work, so I went through and fixed the minor details with that.

“I wanna talk to you about Annie? You wanna return her or forget her? Or trade up? I wanna adopt her.” This is what Daddy Warbucks said to Miss Hannigan in the 1982 film Annie, which is about a poor red headed orphan that was adopted into a wealthy family. There are many children, just like Annie, around the world waiting to be adopted. Adoption is the act of parents legally raising a child up as their own. Today adoption has become more diverse as people are starting to adopt outside of their race and in different regions of the world. This is the process of ethnic adoption. The problem with ethnic adoption is the child has a harder time adjusting to an interracial family than would a child of the same ethnic background (US Legal). Founded in 1991 by Beth Hall, the Pact: An Adoption Alliance is a global organization that knows all about taking care of the child first. They work internationally to make sure children in all parts of the world are in a safe, and loving home. Their main goal is to “assist adoptive children of color” (PACT: An Adoption Alliance). By contrast, the American Adoption Foundation creates a safe place for interracial families by providing different aid and support and was founded in 1972 after Marai Dupree found a child on a doorstep (American Adoption). Despite the differences of the two organizations, the purpose of this easy is to propose a partnership between them in order to expand and enhance their goals.

The PACT: An Alliance (PAA) began their non-profit organization in California after discovering a group home that had an overflow of children. On that same day they recognized many of the children that were living there were children of color. PAA is set on the beliefs that every child should grow up in a loving, nurturing, and permanent home. PAA focuses on the issue of racism and “adoptism”, believing the two issues should be combated. This means having a child that is physically one’s own is superior to an adopted child. PACT’s way of handling the negative impact on children, is finding parents who are genuinely capable of accepting a child’s ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and gender expressions. If a parent wants to adopt a child of a different ethnicity, they must gather information on a child about their birth heritage. Only then will the organization will help future parents connect with their child. To adopt from this organization, first the parents has to be open and willingly accept any ethnic background. Then they must go through a series of tests, service training, and anti-racist adoption practice that indicate they are responsible enough to care for a child. The Find Law Organization also specializes in ethnic adoption. They know that adopting a child is not an easy process and that there are challenges along the way. Find Law recommends hiring lawyers during an adoption process to guarantee a safe and peaceful adoption (Find Law). PACT Alliance strives to balance the well being of children while continuing to better conditions for future adoptive parents.

It is easy for some organizations to publicize a global issue for publicity. In 1984, the first case of interracial adoption was recorded. As ethnic adoption continue to spread, so did the business of other adoption organizations. Many of them were more concern about the business ethnic adoption would bring, instead of the children. Unlike the American Adoption Foundation (AA), they focus is on the children. AA is less global then the PACT: Alliance because there organization works only on adoption in the United States. People should adopt based on the desire to want a family, instead of the idea of wanting to be “a family for adopting a black child” (Every Child Deserves). By creating a clear understanding of the adoption process, the AA is able to create a safe place for interracial families by providing counseling, scholarships, and years of service. Even though there are many challenges that come with ethnic adoption, the AA has created programs that successfully prepare parents with open adoption and find a child that would be perfect for their home. The services that AA provides helps to ensure safety and clarity for the child. Because being a different race from your parents can have long term effects for the child growing up, they provide therapy sessions and home studies to make sure the child’s school and home life are in order. Scholarships are placed in their behalf and receives support from the adoption team. Due to the well planned and successful team of adoption caregivers, the AA lives by the saying “it takes a village to raise a child”.

There are many issues surrounding the topic ethnic adoption. According to the British Association for Adopting and Fostering (BAAF), children that have a different race from their parents often times grow up with identity issues. BAAF also do not want to delay an adoption process because of a child’s ethnic background. By forming a partnership between PACT and AA, the two organizations together can overcome the difficult challenges of interracial adoption. For the organizations to coexist, they both have to learn each other’s way to help future adopting families.

The PACT and AA can host adoption fairs during a weekend and future parents can come and spend a day with a child of their choice. This way the parents and the child can get to know each other through a weekend of food, fun games, and rides. Scholarships are also in for the adopted child to help them along in their educated career. The AA can combine counseling and therapy classes with the parents trying out adoption for the first time. But counseling and therapy can get expensive, as well as finding money for scholarships. By hosting charity events, such as a 5K run, it can help with funding for any programs associated with AA and PACT. A person wanting to run has to pledge a certain amount of money and that money can either go towards a child’s scholarship fund or building a new program. At the fairs, people can sell merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, etc. With all the money the organizations can raise they might be able to build a school for those children waiting to be adopting. This would help build social and interaction skill among the children. Having the partnership in place can eliminate the feelings of loneliness and emptiness that the child may have. But together they now have a chance to feel what’s it like to have a family. The main concern is that the organizations are meeting the child’s needs.

To conclude, there are many challenges involved in ethnic adoption; however, the PACT: An Adoption Alliance and American Adoption stand on similar grounds in that their main goal is the well being and concern for the child in an interracial home. Therefore, a legitimate partnership between the two organizations focuses on finding well-fit adoptive parents and creating safe homes for children of a different ethnicity. Through the partnership the process of adoption has become more advanced and exceeds expectations that every child deserves a home.

Works Cited

1. “Quotes.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0083564/quotes.
2. US Legal, Inc. “Transracial Adoption Law and Legal Definition.” Transracial Adoption Law and Legal Definition | USLegal, Inc., 24 Oct 2018, www.definitions.uslegal.com/t/transracial-adoption/.
3. “Adopting a Child From a Different Race, Ethnicity or Culture.” Findlaw, 24 Oct 2018, www.family.findlaw.com/adoption/adopting-a-child-from-a-different-race-ethnicity-or-culture.html.
4. Hall, Beth. “Welcome.” Pact Adoption Placement Services, 24 Oct 2018, www.pactadopt.org/adoptive/welcome.html.
5. “Every Child Deserves.” Adoption Agency Bethesda, MD | Barker Adoption Foundation 24 Oct 2018 , www.barkeradoptionfoundation.org/.
6. Murray, Kate. “The Pros and Cons of Trans-Racial Adoption.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 Oct. 2018, www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/mar/04/pros-cons-trans-racial-adoption.

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