The career of the transracially adoptive parent: An exploration of identity

This study explores the career of the transracially adoptive parent. It focuses on how the parents make the transition to the identity of transracially adoptive parent and maintain that identity. The parents' experiences are explored in two rounds of interviews approximately one year apart.;The theoretical orientation is symbolic interactionist, and the main concepts used to understand and frame the parents' experiences are the career and the role-identity. As for the methodology, the main data-gathering technique is the semi-structured interview.;This research reveals that when the participants decided to adopt, they began a process of resocialization whereby they unlearned elements of biological parenthood and learned the aspects of parenthood associated with being a transracially adoptive parent. Moreover, because there is no cultural script for transracially adoptive parenting, these parents are continuously learning how to parent their children and carve out a niche for their unique family form.