Effects of becoming a mother on the development of ethnic and racial identities in Korean transnationally and transracially adopted women.

Abstract

The transition to motherhood is widely viewed as a significant life stage for women (Bailey, 1999;Byrne, 2006;McMahon, 1995). However, this process has not been explored in transracially adopted women who, in addition to making sense of how their adoption story impacts their self-concept as mothers, must also negotiate issues related to ethnicity, race, and ethnic and racial identities that emerge in relation to mothering a child of color. Interviews with 15 Korean American women who were adopted as children by White European American families and who were mothers or intended to be mothers to a multiracial (Asian and White) child were analyzed to develop a grounded theory model of the effects of becoming a mother on the development of ethnic and racial identities. Two interactive processes emerged: Reflecting with Intention and Reframing and Taking Action, which captured connections between the women's own childhood development and their children's imagined future development in relation to ethnicity and race. Reflecting with Intention described how the mothers' sense of responsibility and anticipation of their child's needs catalyzed reflection upon their own developmental experiences and an associated intention and motivation to foster more positive experiences for their children. This led to the second cycle of Reframing and Taking Action, where the mothers actively sought to increase their cultural knowledge, reframed their earlier experiences in relation to the benefits for their children, worked more actively to resist internalizing racism, and engaged more frequently in ethnic and racial affinitybased experiences.

Hidden among the hidden: Transracially adopted Korean American adults raising multiracial children.

“…But Korean adoptees do not stay children forever; the majority of Korean adoptees are now adults with families of their own. However, there is scant research on adoptees' experiences as parents (e.g., Day, Godon-Decoteau, & Suyemoto, 2015;Greco, Rosnati, & Ferrari, 2014), including Korean transracial adoptees' experiences of engaging in cultural socialization with their own children.…”

“…Finally, the characteristics of our sample should be considered when considering the generalizability of our findings to other multiracial families. Our sample consisted of transracially adopted Korean American parents, and though we did not specifically address the role of adoption in our study, the experience of growing up in a transracial adoptive family may affect Korean adoptees' cultural socialization beliefs, messages, and practices (Day et al, 2015).…”

Depth in Cultural Socialization in Families with Children Adopted from China

“…McGinnis et al (2009) surveyed adult Korean adoptees about how helpful various activities were in assisting their identity development. Interviews from 15 adult Korean transracial adoptees reported insufficient exposure to or understanding of Korean culture within their adoptive families (Day et al, 2015); another qualitative study of 12 adult Korean adoptees reported no Korean or Asian role models in schools, communities, or the media (Langrehr, Yoon, Hacker, & Caudill, 2015). What helped, reflected adult adoptees, were "lived" experiences such as traveling to the birth country, attending racially diverse schools, and having role models of their own race/ethnicity (McGinnis et al, 2009).…”

“…This type of "lived" experience, however, was lacking in many TRAs' childhoods. Interviews from 15 adult Korean transracial adoptees reported insufficient exposure to or understanding of Korean culture within their adoptive families (Day et al, 2015); another qualitative study of 12 adult Korean adoptees reported no Korean or Asian role models in schools, communities, or the media (Langrehr, Yoon, Hacker, & Caudill, 2015). Elsewhere, although motivated to provide CS, parents only engaged in activities that required minimal integration with people sharing their children's racial background (e.g., Lee, Vonk, & Crolley-Simic, 2015).…”

“…Many adult TRAs reported having insufficient exposure to birth culture from their adoptive families and their communities (Day et al, 2015;Langrehr et al, 2015). If Baden et al (2012) are correct that it is rare for TRA children to form a deep connection to the birth culture, perhaps parents who provide at a deeper level may enable their children to experience reculturation more smoothly.…”