What If My Baby Is a Child of
Color?
There are some special considerations if your baby is a
child of color, such as African American, Hispanic, Native American,
Asian/Pacific Islander or biracial.
If it is important to you that the parents adopting your
child be of the same ethnic or racial background as your child, you will need
to locate an agency or attorney with such families approved and waiting for
placement. You can choose which kind of agency you work with and which family
your child goes to. Ask agencies or attorneys if they work with families of
color and if they have families of color in their pool of approved families.
Many agencies provide expectant parents with photos and summaries of
prospective adoptive families to help them choose the adoptive family for
their child.
You should be aware that two Federal laws (P.L. 103-382
and P.L. 104-188) prohibit adoption agencies receiving Federal funding from
delaying or denying placement of a child with a prospective adoptive family in
order to achieve racial or ethnic matching. These laws affect public adoption
agencies as well as any private adoption agencies receiving any Federal
funding.
Some agencies may not be as welcoming to you as they
could be. If it is important to you that your child be placed with adoptive
parents where at least one parent is of the same race as your child and
agencies do not have them in their pool of applicants, they may be concerned
that they will not be able to find a family for your child right away. Not all
agencies recruit families of color and some agencies charge fees that can be
prohibitive for many families.
Some agencies specialize in finding families for
children of color. They work very hard to let people know that children of
color are available for adoption. They also try to make the adoption process
less complicated and intrusive for families.
