Pete Buttigieg got real about transracial adoption. It's making waves – with good reason.

Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten are raising adopted Black children – something he recently discussed on the "Flagrant" podcast. And they're hardly alone. Scroll through TikTok and you'll find wholesome, heartwarming stories about White parents with Black children posting videos perfecting their children's hair. Many comments are encouraging: "omg her hair is beautiful and so is a mothers love." "A mother who TRIES is all our kids need." "You’re doing a great job caring for them."

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Admin | May 08, 2025

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Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten are raising adopted Black children – something he recently discussed on the "Flagrant" podcast. And they're hardly alone.

Scroll through TikTok and you'll find wholesome, heartwarming stories about White parents with Black children posting videos perfecting their children's hair. Many comments are encouraging: "omg her hair is beautiful and so is a mothers love." "A mother who TRIES is all our kids need." "You’re doing a great job caring for them."Buttigieg alluded to plenty of advice he received on his children's hair from Black parents on social media. "They're like, 'let me tell you how to do it,'" he said.

Today, there are plenty of resources for parents who adopt children of a different race, a process known as transracial adoption. But that wasn't always the case.For transracial adoptees who grew up in White families decades ago, these TikTok videos and the attention this subject is now getting bring mixed emotions. It's encouraging to see how far things have come in terms of adoptive parents working to better understand their children's needs. But these viral positive posts aren't reflective of what they experienced.Some now-adult transracial adoptees are determined to share their stories too, to combat what they say is an overly rosy narrative about adoption. They hope in doing so, the experience of Black adoptees will continue to improve and evolve.

DezaRay Mons, transracial infant adoptee who goes by @TheOutspokenAdoptee online, hopes to raise awareness about the types of things she experienced growing up in the '80s and to make sure people adopting Black children today have a comprehensive view of the experience. For example, Mons explains for many in the transracial adoptee community, "Our first microaggressions are often with our White adoptive families.”