Hi everybody. I have recently been trying to do more research on the effects of transracial adoption-- specifically as it relates to mental health and treatment. A lot of research has said that there's not much difference in the outcomes of TRAs vs "regular" adoptees and I just have a hard time believing that is true based on what I have been reading in this thread.
I am a mixed-race (Black/White) transracial adoptee who was taken in by my biological father's parents (my White side). It has been a completely isolating experience for most of my life, and I have only ever met 2 other people in my life who have the same circumstance as I do. I'm curious if any of you are TRAs adopted by family (kinship adoptees) and what your experience has been like.
For me, I was already struggling with the mixed-race experience, the adopted experience, and the transracial adoptee experience all at the same time. Add in the fact that my entire surrounding family, neighbors, teachers, and peers were all White. It was really hard to constantly hear how awful my biological mother was, so eventually I started to stray away from other people of color just because that was the association my young brain made. It got even worse when I got to high school because the Black kids would tell me that I was "whitewashed" and they did not approve of the way I spoke, dressed, carried myself, etc. I had some push back from White kids for "trying to be like them" but ultimately, that was my crowd.
Now that I've finished college, I have greatly embraced my identity as a woman of color. Although my parents have decided to take the colorblind approach ("you're not black, you're out daughter), I have decided that I don't really care what they think. If they truly love me and only see me as their daughter, then it doesn't matter what music I listen to, how I do my hair, how I dress, or if I use Ebonics around the house.
Sorry for the long post. Thank you to all who have read this far and decide to leave their stories. Have a blessed day.