Today we talk to Nefertiti Austin, Author of Motherhood So White: A Memoir  of Race, Gender, and Parenting In America. Fourteen years ago she took a journey toward adopting a child from the Los Angeles foster system as a single woman and she shares her experience and the insight she gained from it with us today. Our Digital Media Coordinator and Executive Assistant for Birth Circle, Erin, also joins us as a guest interviewer.  We talk to Nefertiti about her initial journey toward deciding to adopt, and what informed her decision on the specifics of what she wanted from the adoption. We also talk about the stigma she came up against in choosing to adopt outside of her own community, and the way informal adoption commonly works in communities of color.  We talk about the things that surprised Nefertiti about raising her children, particularly in regards to protecting them from racial bias at school. We then talk about how important it has been for her to have a community to rely on while raising her children.  Finally we talk about the image of what 'adoptive parents' are thought to look like, and how falling outside the 'norm' can be a deterrent for single parents and parents of color against adopting from the foster system. Nefertiti talks about her book and gives her advice for people preparing to navigate the system as she did. To Learn More Visit: https://nefertitiaustin.com/ For Any Questions, Email Us at media@birthcircle.com