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Culture Combo
Adopting a Baby of Different Nationality
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
The typical procedure and practice of a child's birth includes immunizations, testing, blood work, etc., in order to obtain a good baseline of health information for the family to use throughout the child's life. Unfortunately, children born and offered for adoption in other countries do not always have the luxury or the means of having their health information obtained at birth, thus leaving gaps or blanks in a lot of places. But there are ways to deal with the gaps and blanks, filling them in with adequate and accurate information.
One example of overcoming such obstacles of intercountry adoption can be found at The International Adoption Center for Health and Development (IACHD) at the Marcus Institute in Atlanta, Ga. "The IACHD houses a team of professionals who provide comprehensive medical developmental and psychosocial interdisciplinary evaluations for children of all ages adopted from foreign countries," says Ali Berliner, senior account executive and representative of IACHD. "Many families in the United States have chosen to adopt a child from another country. The medical care of children adopted from other countries presents unique challenges for their families and health care providers. These special services are offered by the adoption center, beginning from the time a parent considers adoption through the child's adolescence."
As mentioned, one of the obstaces of intercountry adoption is the status of being a transracial or cross-cultural family. While not a major issue in comparison, Freivalds says that it is an issue of importance. "A family who had one set of values, traditions, culture and background now has two," Freivalds says. "For the child to develop self-esteem and pride, family members must incorporate into their lifestyle elements of the child's original culture, including friendships with people of the child's ethnicity. Arming your child against racism is another duty of transracial families. Many families report, however, that embracing another culture is one of the unanticipated joys of intercountry adoption."
"It is extremely important to us that our daughter be culturally competent in Chinese culture," St. Martin says. "Our daughter is only 22 months old, so most of her cultural education is still to come. Right now, we get together with three other families who have Chinese daughters our daughter's age to celebrate Chinese holidays. We eat in Chinese restaurants and cook Chinese food at home. We talk about China and are very proud of her heritage. We belong to Families with Children from China. When she is older, we will send her to Chinese language school. We actively seek out Chinese role models."
