Interview with Kelli Babbitt

1. Where do you live?  Buckhannon, WV

2. What is the make up of your interracial family? I’m white. My daughter, 9, is multiracial with mix of African American, Spanish, Italian, and Caucasian. My son, 23, is white. I am divorced from their father, who is white.

3. What is it that you most enjoy about being a part of an interracial family? I don’t know that its just because of it being interracial but i just love my kids with all my heart regardless of their skin color. The fact is that neither of them are my biological children. My son is my ex-husband’s child from a previous marriage and our daughter is adopted. I have always been attracted to African American men… who knows, maybe God will send the right man to me to marry and he will be able to share that heritage with my daughter. I think my daughter is absolutely beautiful and our hearts just fit perfectly together .

4. What is your biggest challenge in being part of an interracial family? Occasionally, Destiny will have someone say something about the differences in our skin color and it makes her start to think about her birth mother and she wonders if she looks like her. I guess that is hard for me that she cant look at me and say that’s why she has her eye color or her hair color, ect.

5. What advice would you give others considering an interracial relationship/adoption? I would really think about it before just jumping into it… talk to your friends and family because it is very hard when your friends and family don’t accept your child. I also believe it is important to make sure your child is proud of their heritage no matter what it is, and not pretend you are somone you are not. Learn to interweave their customs into your customs so they get to know both.

6. If you have children, do they identify as one race, both or something else? Was this something that you helped them with or did they come to this conclusion on their own? My daughter has had kids call her black and she tells them, “I’m not black or white. I’m brown!” I show her all the time that all people have different skin whether it be white, black, or somewhere in between our skin tones are all different. I do find she likes it when I tan lol

7. Do you look at racism differently now that you are part of an interracial family? I find that I am more sensitive to racial jokes and slurs… I think I have always been sensitive to the racial issue though.

8. What pieces, if any, have you adopted from your spouse/significant other’s/adopted children’s culture? I dont know that we have done anything different. We have always had friends in various races. I did find that I asked alot of questions about differences in skin and hair and things like that as they have come up to my African American friends. They just laugh at me and answer the questions.

9. If you are part of an interracial couple, do you think being in an interracial relationship is more difficult than being in a same race relationship? This doesn’t apply – yet lol

10. What else would you like us to know about your family? I have a beautiful little girl that even though she sticks out from us because of her skin tone, she fits our family like a glove and even though neither she nor my son grew in my womb and I didnt give birth to them physically I did give birth to them in my heart and I feel they have been growing there for many years before we even met. I think they are the most wonderful gifts god could have ever entrusted me with … and even though we are now divorced my ex-husband and I do our best to still raise our children together …. I thank god for them daily!