In Their Siblings' Voices: White Non-Adopted Siblings Talk About Their Experiences Being Raised with Black and Biracial Brothers and Sisters » (New Edition)

Rita J. Simon is a University Professor in the School of Public Affairs and the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C. She has published forty-three books, edited nineteen, and is currently the editor of Gender Issues.

Rhonda M. Roorda was adopted into a white family and raised in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The author of a chapter in the Handbook of Adoption: Implications for Researchers, Practitioners, and Families, she currently works at an educational advocacy organization in Lansing, Michigan.

In Their Siblings' Voices shares the stories of twenty white non-adopted siblings who grew up with black or biracial brothers and sisters in the late 1960s and 1970s. Belonging to the same families profiled in Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda's In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories and In Their Parents' Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adoptees, these siblings offer their perspectives on the multiracial adoption experience, which, for them, played out against the backdrop of two tumultuous, politically charged decades. Simon and Roorda question whether professionals and adoption agencies adequately trained these children in the challenges presented by blended families, and they ask if, after more than thirty years, race still matters. Few books cover both the academic and the human dimensions of this issue. In Their Siblings' Voices helps readers fully grasp the dynamic of living in a multiracial household and its effect on friends, school, and community.

Preface, by Rhonda M. Roorda Acknowledgments
Part I. Argument, Rhetoric, and Data for and Against Transracial Adoption
Legal Status, History, and Review of Empirical Work
Part II. Siblings Tell Their Stories
Introduction Shecara's Siblings: Dan Baker and Tom Baker Laurie's Sibling: Adam Goff Chantel's and Nicolle's Siblings: Scott Tremitiere and Michelle Zech Rachel's Siblings: Kathy Mulder, Mary Ann Pals, and Lynn Miller Rhonda's Siblings: Christopher "Duffy" Roorda and Jean Roorda Keith's Sibling: Hilary Tomasson Daniel's Siblings: Yvonne Thornton, Annette VanVoorst, and Michelle Mennega Tage's Sibling: Anika Larsen David's Siblings: Chuck Adams and Mike Adams Pete's Sibling: Catherine Tyler Britton's Siblings: Amanda Perry and Seth Perry
Part III. Implications of Siblings' Voices on Transracial Adoption
Closing Comments Afterword, by Rhonda M. Roorda