Instilling Cultural Awareness and Pride in Internationally Adopted Children
Adoptive parents are told that they must incorporate their child’s birth culture into their life in order to raise healthy adopted children. Can you go overboard? Join our guests Mei-Ling Hopgood, adopted from Taiwan as an infant and author of the book Lucky Girl, and Joy Lieberthal was adopted from Korean at five and is a social worker and therapist in private practice in New York City.
Hit the Highlights
- “Another country, not my own” by Mei-Ling Hopgood
- Is it possible to go overboard when embracing your child’s cultural heritage?
- What is the difference between race, heritage and culture and how does it apply to embracing a transracially adopted child’s background?
- What is the difference between embracing your child’s cultural heritage for your child as oppose to embracing your child’s cultural heritage with them?
- How do children fit into the American aspect of their culture (Korean-American vs. Korean vs. American)?
- Are internationally adopted children being robbed of their culture?
- What is culture and how is it connected to race?
- What can parents do to help their child embrace all of their cultures?
- How does maintaining pride in a child’s birth culture relate to preparing them for being a racial minority?
- The importance of mentoring from the adoptive community.
- How does a child’s perspective of their heritage change as they grow?
- Does an intentional exposure to a birth culture make a child feel unique and special or singled out within their family?
- What should parents focus on when highlighting their child’s culture?
- How hard should parents try to maintain their child’s birth language when adopting an older child?
- How do transracially adopted children identify when they are adults?
- What can parents do to help instill cultural pride in their adopted children?
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