Mixed-race adoption policy gets new guidelines

Yesterday I saw this news story on the BBC website, Mixed-race adoption policy gets new guidelines and although not technically a travel story, it is a subject close to my heart and as travellers, we should be aware of interracial/intercultural issues.  It states that the British government have now changed their views on interracial adoption and have now said that race should not stand as barrier when authorities are choosing prospective parents. My first reaction when I read this story was, it’s about time! I cannot believe that in this day in age, up until yesterday the UK government was against interracial adoption, in a country that is so multicultural. The issue has become a problem as now there a lot more ethnic minority children who need adopting here in the UK and lots of white families who are willing to, but are not allowed to. When my family adopted 2 children from Uganda, we decided to adopt them through the Ugandan adoption system, rather than the British one, for the very reason that the British government did not support interracial adoption and would have probably made the process very difficult for us or not allow it at all. There are so many children that need parents and love throughout the world, why should race stand in the way of this? I congratulate the UK government on their decision to change these views.

There have been a lot of positive comments now this story, but it saddens me to read a lot of racist comments as well. There are also a lot of people who claim that children would not know their own cultural if adopted by a family of a different race. I believe that it is important to know your cultural heritage, but if it is a question of not being adopted at all or being adopted by a family of a different race, then ask yourself which is better? It’s not as if they will learn much about their cultural heritage in an orphanage. These days there are a lot of ways to learn about culture, through cultural groups, books and the Internet, that I don’t believe this issue is in danger of happening.

There are many people who support this issue though, I know just from riding the tube in London with my brother and sister, the support we get from the black community here. I hope now, that because this view has now been changed with our government it will start to make a difference.