Why adoption hurts (Part 2)

[click here for Part 3]

In a previous post, "Why adoption hurts (Part 1)", I discussed in general why adoption is not neutral and why it is inaccurate to assume that adoption is without psychological, social, and familial repercussions.

I ended the first post by stating that I wanted to address in greater detail some of these misinformed assumptions and discuss just a few of the reasons as to why being an adoptee is "not easy" nor without consequence--but I offered that I would do so in a "Part 2" simply to prevent a single post from being too long and too saturated.

So here are just a few for starters:

LACK OF RESOLUTION OVER PROFOUND LOSS: Adoptees have no way to get resolved regarding the loss of their original parents and extended family.

Often there is no knowledge of the circumstances that led to their adoption and even less knowledge of their biological parents' identities or histories.

How do you get resolved and move on when you have no idea what happened? It's like telling someone to get over the husband who is missing in action. You in some ways have no choice but to "move on" but you can't ever actually get resolved, because you can't ever know what happened or where he is. It's a similar situation for adoptees.

PUBLIC IGNORANCE: Most people are generally ignorant of the profound effects psychologically and socially of adoption on the adoptee's identity and overall experience of family and life.

This compounds the existing difficulty of working to find resolution and understanding. If the rest of the world acts as though adoptees are crazy and wrong for having difficulty with being adopted, we're not going to feel comfortable or free to deal with the emotions that accompany it. Most likely, we'll just ignore or suppress the thoughts, questions, and emotions that trouble us.

It's like a friend telling you she was abused all her life, but you then proceed to tell her that it's over with now and she should be fine. Hopefully, in most cases, the majority of people would never do this.

However, when it comes to the profound loss and grief that adoptees face, most people have NO CLUE. This ignorance only increases the sense of isolation and alienation experienced by adoptees, which in turn makes it all the more challenging to cope with being adopted.

ETHNIC/RACIAL INDIFFERENCE/INSENSIVITY: If someone was adopted transracially or internationally this can also further complicate the adoptee's experience.

This is a HUGE factor and is often grossly under-acknowledged and under-addressed. And it's probably going to get a little touchy and I'm probably going to say something that offends someone. Just know that I'm not here to bash or tear anyone down. And I'm also still trying to formulate and gather my own thoughts and perspectives regarding these issues. I'm just trying to discuss the issues in a mature and respectful way, while maintaining openness and honesty. So, let's all be patient with one another.

For example, in my case, a White family adopted a Korean child. If you're White, try to imagine yourself, say, being adopted into a Nigerian family or into a Chinese family and growing up in the respective countries with little to no exposure to anything else or anyone else like you. Hopefully, you can envision the identity issues you would encounter in addition to the issues of loss and grief that come with being adopted.

Furthermore, there is a tension that exists between White Americans and other Ethnic Americans.

Whites say, Oh, I'm color blind. I don't see color.

Okay, let me go ahead and get this one out of the way. Don't strive to be color-blind, okay? You do see color. We all see color. It's inevitable and a natural part of the life scape. It's not a bad thing to see color.

However, what I've noticed is that a lot of White people seem to choose to deal with the color they see by ignoring it. They think the only way to avoid being racist or prejudice is to ignore a person's ethnic heritage.

Let me be clear, that's not the point. The key is learning to recognize and appreciate someone for who they are, which means not ignoring key elements of their identity--and that includes their ethnic background.

I know it seems contradictory. You say, But wait, I thought people didn't want to be discriminated against. I thought we are not supposed to be prejudice.

Yes, you're right. But being prejudice and racist is completely different from appreciating and cultivating someone's ethnic origins. You can acknowledge someone's ethnic origins without being racist or discriminatory. Just in the way that you can appreciate that someone is taller than you are without discriminating against them, you can learn to appreciate someone's ethnic background without being a bigot.

It's not that I want people to see me ONLY as Korean. Because really, that's just a part of who I am. But to completely ignore it is also detrimental. It's really not contradictory.

It's simply more complex than "black and white," because people are more complex than "black and white."

That's the problem with racism and bigotry. It fails to recognize that people are complex and instead makes gross judgments based on oversimplified conclusions. But being "color-blind" is basically the other shoe in the same pair. Putting it on a different foot doesn't change what it is.

Don't ignore someone's ethnic background but also don't make sweeping generalizations based on someone's ethnic heritage. Certain stereotypes do exist for a reason, but those stereotypes become dangerous and harmful when we allow them to overtake common sense and basic human consideration.

For adoptees in particular, for example in my case, it could not be avoided that growing up as the only Asian in predominantly White communities would have consequences regarding my identity development and my overall experience of being Asian in America.

Rather than either extreme: Oh, I'm sure you were fine. I'm sure your race didn't matter one bit. You're just a human like all of us versus Hey, slant-eyed flat-flace, you look weird and you talk weird. Hoing-doing-choing-doing.

There are of course more subtle and covert encounters that I have with harmful stereotypes, but they nonetheless sting just as much.

I'm simply saying that I can tell you from personal experience that even though White people like to think of themselves as "color-blind," they most certainly are not.

I'm not saying that you are not a generally kind and considerate person. What I'm saying is that even with your best efforts to not treat someone according to their ethnic appearance, you will inevitably do the very thing you're trying to avoid.

So, don't avoid it. Just try to embrace me for who I am--with all its complexity and all its seeming contradictions...Just don't be racist or ignorant about it...

And in terms of adoption, recognize that being adopted as an Asian into a predominantly White community with accompanying standards of beauty and conduct cannot but have long-term effects on my experience of the world and my identity.

ASSUMPTION THAT REUNION MAKES IT ALL GO AWAY: There is also an assumption that if an adoptee "reunites" with his or her biological parents and/or family, then that adoptee will no longer have any questions or difficulties.

Again, this is a misguided and misinformed assumption. Although "reuniting" with my biological parents and family has answered some of my questions, it has not answered all of my questions. And actually, in many ways, it has created more.

Reunion do not simplify or fix the issues that adoptees face. In reality, it complicates the issues and surfaces all kinds of emotions. And the reunion isn't over after that first meeting. It continues on into what's often referred to as "post-reunion."

Post-reunion is often neglected, in part, I think because so many assume that reunion is the end of the story. But post-reunion is one of the most complex, fragile, daunting, draining, testing processes. It's even hard to explain or discuss because it is so incredibly complicated.

If adoption is inherently complicated, reuniting with one's biological family certainly is no less complicated and often only deepens and widens the existing complexities.

[click here for Part 1 and here for Part 3]

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Please feel free to chime in. Certainly, the issues discussed above only scratch the surface. I had a hard time myself, even explicating all the complexities. I never seem to get to a place in which I feel as though I have properly and adeptly discussed the issues of why adoption hurts.

I'm sure I'll have to further clarify statements I have made in this post...