The widely popular act of adoption initially was legalized on May 24, 1851 with the Massachusetts Adoption of Children Act (General Court of Massachusetts, Chap. 324). Fast-forward over a hundred years later to 1994 and the Howard M. Metzenbaum Multiethnic Placement Act is being passed. This act prohibits race from playing a factor in the adoption of a child by a family or person who wishes to adopt (uslegal.com). This is known as interracial or transracial adoption, in which case a child and their adopter(s) are of different national origins. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2007 40% of all adopted children who were not adopted by family were adopted transracially. As time progresses, the amount of transracial
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Foster care is where children are placed when their parent(s) are unable to take care of them for one reason or another (adopt.org). In 2012, a study was conducted on the statistics of children who aged-out, which means they reached the age of 18 and/or graduated high school and left their foster home. Of 23,439 young adults, it was shown that one in five will be homeless after leaving and one in four will experience post traumatic stress disorder (Soronen cnn.com). Additionally, less than 3% will earn a college degree, 71% of girls will be pregnant by age 21, and only half of these people will be employed by age 24 (Soronen cnn.com). Foster youth are 15% less likely to even graduate from high school than all other students and children (promises2kids.org). However, in comparison with the children who grew up out of the foster care system, “... transracial adoption was not found to be detrimental for the adoptee in terms of adjustment, self-esteem, academic achievement, peer relationships, parental and adult relationships” (Sharma, McGue, Benson, 1995). There has been no solid proof of a child’s education being compromised solely due to the fact that they were adopted transracially and overall, there is a lot of evidence to prove validity in the argument for interracial adoption over placement in foster care. However, the racial identity of a person who has been adopted transracially has been a common concern of people who actively do not advocate interracial
Foster care is where children are placed when their parent(s) are unable to take care of them for one reason or another (adopt.org). In 2012, a study was conducted on the statistics of children who aged-out, which means they reached the age of 18 and/or graduated high school and left their foster home. Of 23,439 young adults, it was shown that one in five will be homeless after leaving and one in four will experience post traumatic stress disorder (Soronen cnn.com). Additionally, less than 3% will earn a college degree, 71% of girls will be pregnant by age 21, and only half of these people will be employed by age 24 (Soronen cnn.com). Foster youth are 15% less likely to even graduate from high school than all other students and children (promises2kids.org). However, in comparison with the children who grew up out of the foster care system, “... transracial adoption was not found to be detrimental for the adoptee in terms of adjustment, self-esteem, academic achievement, peer relationships, parental and adult relationships” (Sharma, McGue, Benson, 1995). There has been no solid proof of a child’s education being compromised solely due to the fact that they were adopted transracially and overall, there is a lot of evidence to prove validity in the argument for interracial adoption over placement in foster care. However, the racial identity of a person who has been adopted transracially has been a common concern of people who actively do not advocate interracial