Interracial couples' experiences with coparenting school-aged mixed-race children.

Objectives: Fostering positive racial identities in racialized children is associated with several indicators of optimal development. There is little research investigating the socialization processes through which interracial parents meet this need for their mixed-race children. To address this, in-depth interviews were conducted with six couples actively parenting mixed-race children in an urban context.

Method: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith et al., 2009) was used to generate rich descriptions of the meaning that interracial couples' made of jointly parenting mixed-race children.

Results: This analysis yielded three core transecting themes. First, participants described how joint parenting led to transformative racial identity experiences, both as individuals and couples. Second, participants described how significant experiences with their racially different partner, with their mixed-race children, and with the external world led to the realization of their uniqueness in a racially stratified society. Third, all couples described the process through which they framed their interracial status as a strength for their mixed-race children, emphasizing the benefits of dual racial exposure.

Conclusions: This research has exposed the unique needs of mixed-race families in the context of a rapidly shifting sociopolitical climate and period of racial reckoning. The perspectives of these families need to be understood to ensure the provision of culturally sensitive, competent, and affirming practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).