Mixed Families, Adopting Across Racial Boundaries. This item is unavailable.Mixed Families, Adopting Across Racial Boundaries

This book is a study of transracial adoption, a trend which had become popular in the late 1960's among white couples in part because of a shortage of white babies for adoption and an abundance of minority children. The trend was applauded at first as a key step toward tearing down racial barriers, but a competing philosophy began to emerge in the 1970's arguing that black children needed to grow up in black families to develop a positive self-image and a strong sense of identity. In an attempt to resolve the debate, Ladner interviewed 136 transracial adoptive families to see how they were coping with the issues that arose. What she found was a mixed bag, with some families agreeing that it would have been better for their black child to have grown up in a black family, while other families found the experience positive in fostering better understanding and appreciation between the races.