Palmore v. Sidoti

Interracial, or transracial, adoption involves children whose race or ethnicity differs from that of their adopting parents.

Interracial adoptions within the United States are predominately African American/white adoptions. In 1995, 100,000 children, of which 45 percent were black and 35 percent white, needed adoptive homes. Yet, approximately 67 percent of all families waiting to adopt are white, with some eager to receive a black child. However, due to societal taboos against race mixing, agencies commonly block adoption of black children by white families. Black children are three times less likely than white children to be adopted. As of 1997, federal law prohibited states from denying adoption on the basis of race, color, or national origin. In 1998, Transracial Adoption Group of Los Angeles estimated 175,000 black or biracial children had been adopted by white parents since 1968, but fewer than 1,000 such adoptions occurred nationwide in 1997. Numbers have vacillated due to changing attitudes and laws.

American families frequently turned to international adoption. In 1997, 3,816 adoptions were from Russia, up from 1,896 in 1995; 3,597 from China, up from 2,130 in 1995; 1,654 from South Korea; 1,228 from North America, excluding the United States; 548 from South America; and, only 186 from Africa.