This weekend we attended a seminar entitled "Visibly Distinct". It was about adopting transracially. We left Sara and Leah with our friends and theirs (Thanks Len, Lisa and Martin) and drove to Toronto (although we stopped in Milton to purchase a SUPER bunk bed, and cheap!) We visited with Opa Steenwyk and Aunt Jennie for the evening, spending the night at Aunt Jennie's. The following morning we were off to our seminar.
The seminar was led by Leila Junaid, a social worker in Toronto. It was wonderfully optimistic and encouraging. The most encouraging thing was to hear, from a black social worker especially, that we are doing the right thing. Transracial adoptions are for the most part very positive and wonderful things. In fact, Leila said that people who are adopted transracially actually demonstrate a better sense of identity, racially and otherwise, than people who are adopted by the same race. Wow! That was a surprise! The research is clear and substantial that this is true. The reason is that children who have been adopted transracially are forced to ask identity questions their whole life. It is obvious to them, and to everyone, that they are adopted. Although this makes the journey long and perhaps tiring, the end result is people who have come to terms with who they are and have developed pride in themselves and in their cultural and ethnic heritage. How great to hear this!
We also heard from Paulette, a social worker specializing in bereavement (also African-Canadian), and Sarah, an adoptive mother who has a wonderful 13 year old boy adopted from Jamaica 11 years ago. It was great to hear first hand the joys and struggles of transracial families.
All the attending couples were also adopting from South Africa and all in similar stages of the journey. One of the people attending we'd met at a previous seminar about South African adoptions. It was good to make some new contacts, and share experiences with others on similar journeys. We look forward to seeing some of them later this month at another event.
The seminar was led by Leila Junaid, a social worker in Toronto. It was wonderfully optimistic and encouraging. The most encouraging thing was to hear, from a black social worker especially, that we are doing the right thing. Transracial adoptions are for the most part very positive and wonderful things. In fact, Leila said that people who are adopted transracially actually demonstrate a better sense of identity, racially and otherwise, than people who are adopted by the same race. Wow! That was a surprise! The research is clear and substantial that this is true. The reason is that children who have been adopted transracially are forced to ask identity questions their whole life. It is obvious to them, and to everyone, that they are adopted. Although this makes the journey long and perhaps tiring, the end result is people who have come to terms with who they are and have developed pride in themselves and in their cultural and ethnic heritage. How great to hear this!
We also heard from Paulette, a social worker specializing in bereavement (also African-Canadian), and Sarah, an adoptive mother who has a wonderful 13 year old boy adopted from Jamaica 11 years ago. It was great to hear first hand the joys and struggles of transracial families.
All the attending couples were also adopting from South Africa and all in similar stages of the journey. One of the people attending we'd met at a previous seminar about South African adoptions. It was good to make some new contacts, and share experiences with others on similar journeys. We look forward to seeing some of them later this month at another event.
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Glad you had a good weekend together. I'm sure it was nice getting the re-affirmation that what you're doing IS a great thing for all of you!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you enjoyed the seminar and the positive news you learned about the transracial adoptions. That's a great picture of the two of you. Hope the plans continue to go smoothly.
ReplyDeleteRhonda