ABSTRACT
Since 1948, more than 140,000 Asian adoptees have been raised in the United States, primarily by parents and kin who are white (Figure 9.1). Coming mainly from Korea, but more recently from China, Asian adoptees constitute the bulk of what Weil (1984) has referred to as the “quiet migration” of international adoptees. As a group whose existence challenges traditional rules for racial engagement and intimacy, Asian adoptees provide a significant case for extending sociological theories on race, identity, and the Asian-American experience. In this chapter, we link the study of Asian adoption to broader sociological concerns. As an alternative to the dominant psychosocial approach in the adoption literature, we offer an approach viewing racial/ethnic identity as a dynamic formation in relation to wider social contexts that can change over the life course. To illustrate, we draw from data collected for our study, titled “Asian Immigrants in White Families: Korean Adoptees in America,” and offer preliminary analyses. Cumulative Intercountry Adoptions into the United States, 1948–2000. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203051450/7af93fff-2a44-4496-8243-b0692cccd472/content/fig9_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Note: Data sources are Altstein and Simon 1991 and U.S. State Department 1998. Total children adopted 1948–1987: 137,437. Total orphan visas FY1989–2000: 128,087; 1988 data is unavailable. State Department data for “All Others” include only the top 20+ source countries.
