Dear MASC,
My name is Teresa and I’m an undergraduate student at the University of
California, Irvine working on my senior honors thesis in sociology. The
topic of my project has to do with the experiences of Asian and
African-American adult adoptees who have been raised by Caucasian
parents. I am doing a comparison of these two groups since Asians make up
the largest international adoptee demographic and African-Americans make
up the largest domestic minority adoptee demographic in the United
States. Although adoptees from these two groups have differing heritages,
I am also interesting in learning how their experiences are parallel each
other since Caucasian parents overwhelmingly represent the pool of
adopting parents. This research is very personal for me being an adoptee
from Macau, China and having been raised by my Caucasian father. I chose
this topic because although transracial adoptions go back several decades
in the U.S., I feel that the personal experiences of adult adoptees such
as myself are still little understood.

This study will consist of 60-90 minute one-time interviews with Asian and
African-American adult adoptees. I would be very appreciative if you could
distribute the enclosed flyer (in MS Word format) via e-mail to your
members who would be eligible to participate. If you have any questions,
please contact me at tlankfor@uci.edu or at (714) 222-6081.

Sincerely,

Teresa Lankford

Contents of Flyer:

Participants needed for transracial/transnational adoption study

Who is eligible:

• Asian, Asian-American, and African-American adoptees who have been raised by Caucasian parents and currently reside in California
• Must be 18 years old and older

What’s involved:

• A 60-90 minute interview
• Upon completion of interview, participant will be given a $15 gift card to their choice of one of many popular retailers

Benefits of joining:

• There are no physical or foreseeable mental health benefits from participating in this study, but participants will be helping researchers to further understand the transethnic/transracial adoptee population

To participate in this study or for more information, please only contact Teresa at tlankfor@uci.edu or at (714) 222-6081.

Lead researcher: Teresa Lankford, University of California, Irvine undergraduate researcher, Department of Sociology