Effects of becoming a mother on the development of ethnic and racial identities in Korean transnationally and transracially adopted women

The transition to motherhood is widely viewed as a significant life stage for women (Bailey, 1999; Byrne, 2006; McMahon, 1995). However, this process has not been explored in transracially adopted women who, in addition to making sense of how their adoption story impacts their self-concept as mothers, must also negotiate issues related to ethnicity, race, and ethnic and racial identities that emerge in relation to mothering a child of color. Interviews with 15 Korean American women who were adopted as children by White European American families and who were mothers or intended to be mothers to a multiracial (Asian and White) child were analyzed to develop a grounded theory model of the effects of becoming a mother on the development of ethnic and racial identities. Two interactive processes emerged: Reflecting with Intention and Reframing and Taking Action, which captured connections between the women's own childhood development and their children's imagined future development in relation to ethnicity and race. Reflecting with Intention described how the mothers' sense of responsibility and anticipation of their child's needs catalyzed reflection upon their own developmental experiences and an associated intention and motivation to foster more positive experiences for their children. This led to the second cycle of Reframing and Taking Action, where the mothers actively sought to increase their cultural knowledge, reframed their earlier experiences in relation to the benefits for their children, worked more actively to resist internalizing racism, and engaged more frequently in ethnic and racial affinity-based experiences.