In Their Parents' Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adoptees

Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda's In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories shared the experiences of twenty-four black and biracial children who had been adopted into white families. The book has since become a standard resource for families and practitioners. Now, in this sequel, we hear from the parents of these remarkable families and learn what it was like for them to raise children across racial and cultural lines. Simon and Roorda's candid interviews shed light on the issues these parents encountered while raising their children and reveal whether they received adequate preparation and training from social work professionals and adoption agencies. The authors explore what role race played during thirty plus years of parenting, what lessons these parents learned about themselves, and whether they would recommend transracial adoption to others. Combining trenchant historical and political data with absorbing firsthand narratives, Simon and Roorda once more bring a unique scholarly and human dimension to the literature on transracial adoption.