Since we're looking into adoption at some time in the future, I've had people warn me about the great, additional difficulties of inter-racial adoption.

It's a load of dingos' kidneys, if you ask me.

At the most fundamental level, every child -- every person, for that matter, regardless of age -- wants to know that he or she is a human being of individual value. Things such as "knowing where one comes from" and identification with a specific culture can contribute to feelings of belonging and worth, but these elements aren't nearly as important as unconditional love, respect, encouragement, and communication.

In order to nurture a feeling of value in a child, the parent must inherently value the child: his or her opinions, feelings, experiences and everything that makes the child who he or she is as an individual. If you've got that down, everything else becomes simply matters for discussion.

QED.