"The Importance of Racial Ethnic Socialization in Transracial Adoption" by Rose Jeffes

The Importance of Racial Ethnic Socialization in Transracial Adoption

Rose Jeffes, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania

Abstract: Transracial adoption occurs when children are adopted into a family of a different race or culture. Children adopted into transracial families can struggle with mental health due to a potential lack of racial identity. This literature review discusses the impact of transracial adoption on a child. It attempts to uncover restrictions on the child’s development and racial identity due to a lack of racial-ethnic socialization. The review questions whether early exposure and education of race and ethnicity can foster a healthy, positive outlook on life, increase intimacy in relationships, and decrease mental health struggles in the future. The peer-reviewed articles chosen for the review include both parent and child participants who are a part of transracial adoptive families, and the literature focuses on white heterosexual parents and their adopted Black child. The literature suggests that racial identity and parental education on race and ethnicity assist the adopted child in life. When parental knowledge is paired with a healthy, strong parent-child relationship, the chance of mental health issues is reduced. Children’s exposure and growing understanding of their own culture also correlate with a healthier lifestyle. When an adopted child has a grasp of their own racial identity, it creates a solid foundation for the child and lowers the risk of mental health struggles in the future. This literature review helps families and human service workers understand more about transracial adoption with the intent to assist children from different races and foster healthy development. 

Keywords: Transracial adoption, racial identity, parent-child relationships, trauma

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Transracial adoption can cause an individual's sense of difference to worsen as they may not be grounded in a singular race (Miranda Samuels, 2009, p. 82). The options for belonging to multiple races can cause emotional turmoil and longitudinal issues if not adequately addressed. In this literature review, transracial adoption is described as a Black child being adopted by white heterosexual spouses, and a Black child is defined as an individual under the age of 18 who has at least one Black biological parent. Fourteen peer-reviewed articles were analyzed to understand the impact of transracial adoption and to uncover the boundaries of transracial adoptees' development and racial identity. I hypothesize that by using a combination of parental knowledge of culture and childhood exposure to the birth race and culture, the adopted child can begin to form a positive racial identity that can assist them in their developmental stages of life.

After reviewing both recent and older articles spanning nearly 40 years, there are no significant contradictions in the empirical research among them. Each article complements the others, providing different perspectives on the topic. The social services system, including foster care and adoption, has evolved over the past few decades. However, the conflicting arguments for and against transracial adoption have remained consistent and have become even more pronounced. There have been more studies about individuals' perception and understanding of trauma that comes from the child welfare system. Brodzinsky et al. (2021) discuss the implications of adoption and how children can develop trauma from the lived experience of adoption. Brodzinsky et al. (2021)  highlight the importance of recognizing and defining adoption as a potentially traumatic experience that can lead to emotional difficulties later in life. These emotional challenges often require counseling in adulthood for transracial adoptees. Brako (2025) discusses using the cultural racial identity model to assess and support interventions for counseling Black transracial adoptees. Brako (2025) explains that these adults struggle with “psychological adjustment, identity development, and the impact of racial socialization within adoptive families” (p. 248). These issues can cause these individuals to reflect on their identity and how they fit into the world. Without racial and ethnic socialization provided in childhood, these individuals may face these challenges and need therapeutic intervention as adults. Regarding trauma, Brodzinsky et al. (2021) argue that any individual in adoption or foster care is likely to have experienced some form of psychological trauma. With help from racially aware and trauma-informed parents, children can develop their own racial identity, reducing the likelihood that they will face more trauma-related issues and require intensive counseling later in life (Brako, 2025).

History of Transracial Adoption

The first efforts at legal interventions in transracial adoption trace back to the 1970s,  when U.S. courts considered whether it was appropriate for white parents to adopt Black children. These court cases led to a federal law called the Multiethnic Placement Act that prohibits race from being considered when placing children in adoptive families (Carter-Black, 2002; DeBerry et al., 1996; Alexander & Curtis, 1996; Watson et al., 1987). Due to mandatory reporting laws, the number of children placed into the foster system grew. However, there was a misrepresentation and discrimination of children of color that brought a lack of services to Black children. According to Smith et al. (2011), in 2006, Black children represented 15% of the child population in the U.S., and 32% of the foster care population ( p. 1199). This representation showed the limited placement options for Black children due to the idea that children should be matched with families of the same racial background. Curtis (1996) states, “The findings tended to support arguments that the child-welfare system failed many children, particularly children of color” (p. 157). The denial of equal access to Black children, as well as the legalization of abortion, led to an increase in Black foster children needing permanent homes. Carter-Black (2002) reports that the wait for a home for Black children is around three to five years for permanent placement (p. 338). Some individuals believed that children were to be placed in homes of parents with the same ethnicity and birth culture as their own, otherwise known as same-race placement; however, this sparked arguments across the child welfare system about the “correct” way to place children. Would a Black child thrive as well in a home that has white parents raising them? Although adoption and foster care can be situational, research by Carter-Black (2002)  and DeBerry et al (1996) suggests that if a Black child is raised by white parents in a racially aware setting and is immersed in their birth culture, the child can still flourish and form a positive racial identity of themselves and others. Blake et al. (2021) studied the demographics of parents of adopted Black children. It was determined through a survey that 66.3% of parents were white, 17.5% were Black, and 16.3% were other minorities. Even though a large percentage of parents of Black children are white, the competence of these parents is still questioned (Blake et al., 2021, p. 3). With an already disproportionate number of Black children in the child welfare system, it is important for parents who want to adopt Black children to be encouraged and supported by the system to adopt. With a current lack of data about the current representation of Black children, as well as a decrease in studies, it is necessary to rely on older and newer articles for researching transracial adoption.

Racial Identity

Adoption, in general, can cause struggles with mental health and a lack of identity. When a child is adopted into a transracial home, these struggles can worsen if there is no intervention. Pettis and Sonnentag (2023) found that adoptive parents who engage in racial-ethnic socialization can increase the connection between parent and child and help foster a healthy racial identity. The formation of racial identity and good academic performance are positively correlated (Pettis & Sonnentag, 2023, p.2). Pettes and Sonnentag (2023) conclude that when a child forms a positive racial identity, it can also assist the child in lowering mental health symptoms, decreasing impulsivity, and increasing self-esteem. Transracial adoptees need to have a positive racial identity, and they require the assistance of their adopted parents to do so.

Importance of Trust and Connection

When Black children lack racial identity and education about their own birth culture, their perception of race can be skewed. This can lower their self-esteem if they believe they do not identify with one culture enough to belong in the world. Some Black adults who were transracially adopted described their lives as feeling distant, disconnected, and alone (Watson et al., 1987). The feeling of a lack of belonging can greatly affect individuals, and without a proper support system, emotions are not properly worked through. When people push emotions below the surface, they may react in different ways that affect themselves and others. It is beneficial to the adopted child to have a trusting relationship with their adoptive parents that emphasizes connection and belonging.

Social service workers clarify their perception of transracial adoption of Black children into white families (Carter-Black, 2002). They explain that it is beneficial to the adoptees to have personal connections to their birth culture. If the children have a connection to a larger Black community, a positive racial identity is more likely to form than if the child is brought up in a white community with white parents (Carter-Black, 2002). Connection is important in transracial adoption (Carter-Black, 2002; Watson et al., 1987). Carter-Black (2002) discusses the workers’ views of transracial adoption, and Watson et al. (1987) discuss it from more of an analytical standpoint, incorporating assessments for Black children in transracially adopted white family homes. Watson et al. (1997)  studied children’s adjustment to the home as well as their racial identity and its formation in two groups of children: the first group focused on children aged four; the second group focused on children aged eight. Watson et al. (1997) found that transracially adopted children who are raised in predominantly white communities will experience missed developmental stages and a lack of racial identity that differs from Black children raised in a Black household. These articles show the overall importance of connection with the Black children’s birth culture. Without connection, Black children can suffer not just in the formation of their racial identity, but it can affect them throughout their lives developmentally.

More recent studies, such as Miranda Samuels (2022), confirm these findings, indicating that the data and stance on transracial adoption have not changed. They also emphasize the need for further research and reviews on this topic, given its significance in the lives of Black children. Miranda Samuels (2022) discusses the impact of trauma on adopted children. This is a relatively recent topic that has gained more attention in the past decade, and research indicates that without familial trust and a connection to their birth culture, Black children can develop more trauma from a lack of racial identity. Miranda Samuels (2022) explains that children who go through foster care and/or the adoption process face a substantial amount of trauma. With transracially adopted children, it becomes even more difficult because, without a positive racial identity, their trauma can become more prominent and manifest itself in mental health struggles down the road.

According to Miranda Samuels (2022), trust plays a key role in healthy relationships between children and their parents:  “The most fundamental contribution to a human being’s sense of safety and trust…occurs in the context of one's early attachment experiences with a caring and consistent parent figure” (p. 4). Trust is a fragile concept when caring for children in social services. Early attachment is a significant aspect of a child’s sense of safety and trust. When a child lacks familial attachment, they may struggle with feeling safe and trusting others, which also affects the connections they form. It may be easier for individuals of the same race to connect on a deeper level because they can understand one another’s struggles. Trust and connection are crucial in the formation of a racial identity and relate to the overall success in the development of a transracially adopted child.

Importance of Parental Knowledge and Education

When Black children are placed in white families, the formation of racial identity can change depending on the level the parents provide their children. An adopted child needs to have exposure to their birth culture and individuals who are of that race (Carter-Black, 2002, pp.151-152; Watson et al., 1987). How children perceive the world is especially important, especially as they grow through their developmental stages. Depending on the diversity of the community, the child may lack the contact needed to form their own racial identity. Without proper support and education on racism from their parents, Black children can grow up lacking the proper skills to cope with prejudice (Curtis, 1996, p. 159). If a child is placed in a transracial home, the parents must engage in racial-ethnic socialization with their child. Teaching their child how to address racism properly can assist the child in the formation of their racial identity and give them skills to cope with racism in the future. If teaching a child about racism is crucial for Black parents to do for their children, then white parents with adopted Black children need to do the same, and the agencies can assist and fill in the gaps of education for them (Curtis, 1996, p. 163). Curtis (1996) contributes to an exploration of this topic and explains that the importance of parental knowledge has not changed but has remained the same throughout the past 30 years. Views of transracial adoption have also stayed consistent with minor changes. Still, in the past ten years, studies of adoption and trauma have grown and added to the importance of the formation of racial identity. Brodzinsky et al. (2021) argue that a lack of racial exposure can negatively affect minority children, including Black children, by impeding their ability to form a racial identity, which can lead to more trauma, as well as issues with psychological adjustment, development, and self-esteem (p. 7).

Transracial adoptees can have trauma from birth, an event in their childhood, or long-term care in foster care. Every adoptee has trauma, and parents must be racially aware and trauma-informed to assist their adopted child in the best way they can. Blake et al. (2021) share more about the long-term effects of children who were adopted from foster care. They outline both prenatal and postnatal risks in adoptees that can affect them throughout their lives. Education for parents about trauma is crucial in teaching their children and communicating effectively and calmly with them as their children develop. Communicating safely and calmly that embeds a trauma-informed approach requires education and parental knowledge to best support the child.

Many considerations play a part in the adoption and placement of a child. If white parents are looking to adopt a Black child and they are considered not to be a good fit due to their lack of knowledge and education about race, the parents should have the ability to receive education and encouragement to learn about the child they want to adopt from a racial background. Permanent placement (or adoption) is preferable to foster care for many reasons. Children want and need a loving family that wants to know them and include them in their lives. However, inclusion is looked at differently depending on the person. The importance of inclusion in transracial adoption is not complete assimilation into the family. To include a transracially adopted child into a family, the parents need to emphasize the importance of the child’s race and their parents' race while also integrating the child into the family. If an individual states that race does not matter in terms of placing a child into a home, it directly ignores the importance of racial identity. Similarly, not discussing race in a transracially adoptive home can be equally detrimental for the child and can cause a lack of racial identity (Pettis & Sonnentag, 2023, p. 4). This is looked at as avoidance and denial of the adopted child’s racial identity.

Pettis and Sonnentag (2023) explore empirical evidence on the importance of parental knowledge and education in terms of fostering a positive racial identity in their children. They used an independent sample t-test to analyze a 32-item assessment (α = .67) involving three groups: parents of transracially adopted children (n = 199, M = 17.73, SD = 3.28), trained psychologists (n = 7, M = 25.43, SD = 3.91), and untrained psychologists (n = 12, M = 20.17, SD = 4.17). The article only reports the t-value for the comparison between trained and untrained psychologists (t (17) = 2.71, p = 0.15). The results, based on basic statistical measures, indicate that this is a statistically significant test at an alpha of .67. These comparison groups suggest that knowledge plays a role in higher assessment scores. Despite various levels of training that regular psychologists go through, the test shows that racial knowledge, more specific training, and education are linked to higher test scores. Applying this idea to the parents’ assessment, we can infer that parental education may lead to higher scores, meaning the parent would have more racial knowledge to support their child of a different race. As this study focuses on white parents adopting Black children, the assessment items relate to potential challenges the child might face growing up, or questions about racism in general. That means this data highlights the importance of training parents who adopt children of a different race. (Pettis & Sonnentag, 2023, p. 6). 

Importance of Parental Engagement 

When children have engaged parents in their lives, they can feel supported and loved. It is especially important when a child is adopted due to a potential lack of support and love in their early years of life. In transracial adoption, parental engagement related to racial-ethnic socialization involves cultural socialization and preparing the child for bias (Pettis & Sonnentag, 2023, p. 3). These approaches represent different strategies so that parents socialize and expose their child to their birth race to increase their racial identity. Cultural socialization focuses more on holidays, important people, and keeping the culture alive within the family. Preparing a child for bias is assistance for the Black child in coping with racism throughout their lives and preparing them for when that occurs. These are both extremely relevant and important concepts for white parents who adopt transracially and need to familiarize themselves with these approaches. Without it, their children can decrease their racial identity as well as feel a lack of support from their adopted family. A parent’s support and care for a child is a crucial part of being a part of a family and truly feeling like a family. This support can also help the adjustment into a new family as a transracially adopted child (DeBerry et al., 1996; Pettis & Sonnentag, 2023).

Race and The Placement of Black Children

Using race as a guide for placement, it is crucial to consider what the child needs in terms of racial identity and if the parents can support them and encourage their racial growth and development. The race of the child and the family needs to be considered when placing a child, but race should never be used as a determining factor to not place a child in a home. There is still controversy about same-race placements versus transracial placements, and which is the “better” option (Carter-Black, 2002). Smith et al. (2011) discuss the importance of teaching Black children how to cope with issues of race and racism as white adoptive parents. A common misconception is that parents need to look at their adopted child from a colorblind way, not seeing their race, but this is false. It is important to see the child and their race because the rest of the world sees their race, and they need to be aware of how to cope with racism and bias against them. A parent’s ability to assist their adopted child in this way can separate a successful from an unsuccessful placement (Smith et al., 2011). McSherry et al. (2022) describe the importance of trauma education for parents before placing a child into their care. Not only does race play a role in where to place children, but if a parent is not trauma-informed, the transracial placement can be unsuccessful and lead to future struggles in the child’s life. The main concern is whether white parents can assist their Black children in their growth and development of racial identity, as well as whether they support their trauma. However, Pettis and Sonnentag (2023) noted that if potential parents intend to engage in racial-ethnic socialization, research indicates that their attitude and drive will help adoptees develop their own racial identity. If parents have an intention, they are also more likely to learn how to support their child in their race and trauma. (p. 4). 

Same-Race Placement

Same-race placement occurs when a Black child is placed into a household with Black parents. There is a common consensus among researchers and human service workers that same-race placement is the optimal and best option for Black children to be placed (Miranda Samuels, 2009; Smith & Juarez, 2014; Smith et al., 2011). This is due to the belief that white parents cannot assist their Black children in forming their own racial identity and learning to manage racism (Watson et al., 1987). Children need to be placed in racial aware settings, and many individuals believe that white parents do not facilitate the environment necessary to raise children’s racial awareness (Curtis, 1996, p. 158). A child’s sense of belonging is linked to having a similar physical resemblance and traits to the adoptive parents, and with same-race adoption, this has been shown to resemble racial similarity and belonging in a child (Miranda Samuels, 2009, p. 86). Without a sense of belonging, children can feel disconnected and begin to feel they are on their own in the world. This sense of disconnection could lead to mental health struggles as well as substance use, especially if they grew up around substances (Blake et al., 2022). When children lack a feeling of belonging to their adoptive family, this can increase the severity of trauma. In addition, some children reject their birth culture due to feeling disconnected from their birth family or if they feel culture is forced onto them. This causes issues with same-race placement because if the child is then rejecting their adoptive parents' culture as well. Ensuring the children have a good balance of culture, as well as parental communication and involvement in checking in with their adoptive child, is crucial (Miranda Samuels, 2009).

Transracial Adoption

Even though same-race adoption is deemed optimal for placement, research shows that transracial adoption does not alienate the child’s racial identity and is deemed a good option for placement (Curtis, 1996; Pettis & Sonnentag, 2023; Watson et al., 1987). Contrary to individual beliefs, there are no differences in the level of self-esteem in children who were placed in same-race homes and transracial homes (Curtis, 1996; Carter-Black, 2002). Curtis (1996) elaborates on how self-esteem relates to racial identity, emphasizing the importance of transracial adoptees growing up in a racially aware environment to develop their racial identity. While they may not necessarily struggle with self-esteem, lacking a positive racial identity can impact their development and psychological well-being (p. 158). Although no differences in placement were identified, Carter-Black (2002) suggests that Black children raised in racially aware settings can develop a positive racial identity and self-esteem (p. 355). Self-esteem is crucial for everyone, but these articles do not indicate a difference based on the type of placement. 

A transracial adoptee’s racial identity depends on the parent, the environment in which the child is raised, and whether the adoption agency requires education for the adopted child to grow in identifying their own racial identity. Carter-Black (2002) explains how child welfare agencies and the system in general can hold onto cultural bias. This bias presents itself against the Black community, the child, and the family. Although this article was written in 2002, its ideas on cultural bias remain relevant as the debate over whether transracial adoption is a suitable option for children continues, as well as whether children can develop their own racial identity in a different racial household. If individuals can set their biases aside regarding whether a child can be in a safe, loving home, transracial placement is an adequate option. However, trust, connection, parental knowledge, education, and parental involvement are necessary to create a safe and racially aware household. Without this assistance from family, child welfare, and the community, Black children in transracial households can struggle greatly, from missing developmental milestones to having mental health struggles. Overall, transracial adoption is a way for children to grow up in a supportive environment that genuinely cares for them instead of having to reside in foster care.

Conclusion

Transracial adoption is a widely debated placement option for children in foster care. Contrary to common beliefs, transracial adoption is a beneficial option for children who need placement. For the placement to be successful, the parents need to be racially aware and have a desire to assist a Black child in their racial growth and development. The child needs to have interactions with their race and be exposed to different aspects of their birth culture. This includes living in a predominantly Black neighborhood or having Black friends (Carter-Black, 2002, pp. 151-152; Watson et al., 1987).

Research suggests that the younger the child is at the time of adoption, the better it is for the formation of racial identity (Watson et al., 1987). However, adopting at any age has a better outcome for the child than living in foster homes or orphanages. All children need a safe, stable, and loving home to grow and develop. With the evidence that comes from research, race should not be a deciding factor in whether a child can live with a family or not. If white parents want to adopt, they should be assisted by human service workers and the agency they adopt in terms of education and training in racial exposure and competence. While being raised in a Black household is considered the optimal option for Black children, white parents who engage in racial-ethnic socialization with their child can assist in the formation of the child’s racial identity.

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