A black North Carolina woman has shared the ordeal she’s had to endure because of her adopted white son, especially when they’re out. She is, however, not fazed.
According to Today, Keia Jones-Baldwin and her husband took in Princeton, who was born in 2017 after she established a connection with him when she offered to do a skin-to-skin with him at the hospital.
Born premature to a mother who was a drug addict, Princeton eventually became a member of the Baldwin family when his adoption was finalized this year.
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Albeit a closely-knit and strongly bonded family, Keia opened up about the challenges they face with having a white son.
“We get a lot of stares,” she told TODAY Parents. “I’m frequently asked if I’m Princeton’s babysitter. … I get, ‘Why didn’t you let him stay with a family of his own race?'”
Keia also spoke about how the police were called on her twice on the premise of kidnapping Princeton.
“We were vacationing in Tennessee and we went to do an old time, Western photo shoot,” she said. “The girl behind the camera would disappear and then come back. Finally she asked, ‘Is that your baby?’ I told her he was. Then she said, ‘I just took picture of this baby with his family two weeks ago.’”
She added that the police reported to the scene and she had to provide a document proving Princeton was in her custody.
She also shared another ordeal of her encounter with another man last month when she had a flat tyre and had to park by his house.
“I knocked on his door to explain why I was on his grass,” she told TODAY Parents. “He called the police and said I stole my car and the baby.”
Despite these uncomfortable scenarios, Keia isn’t moved and she’s using the family’s Facebook page, Raising Cultures, to share what it’s like living in a multiracial family.
“I don’t look at family as blood. I look at family as love,” she said. “When Princeton came into our lives, he came into our hearts. Love conquers all.”
Speaking with ABC News after he was adopted, Keia, who, together with her husband, started fostering in 2016, shared her love for Princeton.
“I tear up just thinking about him. He is very rambunctious. He keeps us on our toes, he keeps us sharp,” she said. “I think the most important thing that he brought to our family is a deeper connection on how to love without seeing color.”
