Asian American Transracial Adopt

This course provides a broad sociological overview of race and family formation through the lens of interracial and trans-racial adoption from Asia. We will first examine the historical context of international adoption, starting with the first adoptions from Korea following the wake of the Korean War. Next we trace the expansion of interracial adoption from Asia as a means of family building. We will frame this trend within a market approach to adoption, examining the popularity of adoption from Asia in comparison with US domestic adoption. Specifically, we will explore how international adoption serves as a lens into the changing color line in the United States and the intermediary position of Asians as 'honorary Whites'. Last we will consider the social and political implications of international adoption in the US and abroad. In the US context, we will frame the rise (and fall) of international adoption within the rising rates of infertility, the increased acceptance of 'non-traditional' single and same sex families, and the growing market of assisted reproductive technology (including international surrogacy in India). In the global context, we will analyze trans-racial adoption within the broader context of women's rights, global inequalities, and child welfare. Multiple perspectives (i.e. those of adoptive parents, adopted persons, and birth-mothers) will be considered as well as those of practitioners who put the adoptive family together.

Fall, Spring