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What is it like to be the only biological child in a large transracial adoptive family? Our guest, Elaine Duncan, shares her story of how transcultural adoption impacted her identity and resilience. She is a writer, speaker, and strategist whose work bridges storytelling, healing, and social change. She has a passion for improving outcomes for underserved young people and is currently working on a memoir of her life journey.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What did your home look like growing up, and what was it like for you to be the only biological child in a transracial/transcultural adoptive family?
- Families who adopt across race or culture often wonder how to bring all of those differences together under one roof.
- How did your family handle conversations about race, culture, and identity? Were these things openly acknowledged, celebrated, or avoided?
- How did your parents support (or struggle to support) you in building your own sense of identity — not just as their child, but as an individual?
- Did you ever feel overlooked or lost in the mix? How could parents avoid that happening for their kids?
- What were some of the biggest challenges you carried from growing up in this transracial/transcultural adoptive family?
- How have those challenges shaped your adult life, relationships, or even your current work?
- What are the gifts or strengths you gained from growing up in such a diverse family?
- Are there ways your unique upbringing has given you perspective, resilience, or empathy that you now value?
Additional Resources:
- Intergenerational Trauma (podcast)
- The Impact of Fostering & Adoption on Kids Already in the Family (free on-demand course)
- Raising a Transracial or Multicultural Child (resource page)
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
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