What's a Hapa Keiki?

In the Hawaiian culture, the word "keiki" means child or children.  The word "hapa" has several meanings.  It is a term that describes someone of a mixed cultural heritage and was historically applied to individuals of part caucasian descent.  Hapa also means "half" or "a part of something" when translated.  This word applies to our family and our future children in a number of different ways.

Yes, we hope to adopt children that are of a multi-ethnic background, particularly Asian and Caucasian.  Thus, our children would be hapa babies!  But, on a deeper level, however, we hope that our children see themselves as hapa in terms of their cultural identification.  Being Americans, we plan to instill in our children love, honor, and respect for our wonderful country.  We also want our children to know their roots - to understand that they are special, to know their country of birth, to understand & perpetuate their cultural heritage as best as reasonably possible, and to be proud of their uniqueness.  In our case, we would want our children to identify as both American AND Kazakh.

Adopted children enter our lives through love & determination.  Yet even after they are "ours" they are not COMPLETELY ours.  They will forever have a part of them that belongs to their birth parents.  It is simply reality that their hearts & minds will someday wonder about the circumstances of their birth and why they were given up for adoption.  No matter what we do as parents to help ease this for them, this will undoubtedly -- be it in a small or big way -- be a part of our children's reality.  I am okay with this.  I understand this.  I respect this.  I plan to be there to do whatever it takes to help them get through this very sensitive aspect of adoption.