ABSTRACT
Identity is a complex, ever-changing and multi-dimensional concept in which we are always becoming who we are. The most significant experiences in shaping who I am now are those to do with being a mother, although these are indivisible from my own experiences of having been mothered and indeed, my experiences of being a sister, a friend, a partner, a worker or the many other roles that give my life meaning. I came to mothering through adoption and it is as a black adoptive mother that I write. I do not write for all black mothers although I believe that what I have to say will resonate with many of them, and also with black fathers too. Also, I am sure that there are white people, including mothers and fathers, both those with and without black children, and social workers who share the ideas expressed here. Indeed, I have met many who do and on the occasions where it has happened, have been inspired by their willingness to swim ‘against the tide’.
