Black couple who adopted white children describe moment they were accused of having abducted them

‘I don’t want to justify it because people should mind their own business,’ mother-of-six says

Black couple details experiences with racism after adopting white children (Jennifer McDuffie-Moore / SWNS)

A Black couple who adopted white twin boys have revealed the racist encounters they experience as a result, including accusations that they kidnapped their children.

Jennifer McDuffie-Moore, 43, an early learning specialist and co-owner of a childcare program, and her husband Harry Moore, 37, a mechanic, first took in the identical twins, Brayden and Trevor, as foster children, after they were separated from their biological mother, who suffered from drug addiction.

The couple, who have been fostering children since 2009 and who also have two biological children Joy, 21, and Kourtney, 11, and adoptive kids Keenan, 10, and Sanchez, eight, adopted the brothers, who have developmental delays after being born addicted to hard drugs, two years later.

“They were supposed to stay for a weekend and now they are here forever,” Jennifer said. “They were born with a drug in their systems and so they are medically needy with developmental delays and speech and language issues. Two days after we took them in for a weekend to give their foster carer a break, the agency asked if they could stay for good.

“We said they could stay with us until they had found a home but then time passed and they were nearly a year old and our whole family, my nieces and our church, pitched in and we eventually started the adoption process.”

Jennifer and Harry have since detailed some of the racist encounters they have experienced as a result of their family, with the mother-of-six revealing that a fellow parent has even threatened to call the police on her.

According to Jennifer, the recent incident occurred at a playground last month when the twins didn’t want to go home.

Mother describes experiences with racism after adoption of white children (Jennifer McDuffie-Moore / SWNS)

“A lady had been watching us playing and when one of the twins had a tantrum she told me she was going to call the police,” Jennifer recalled. “I scooped the kids up and she thought I was stealing them. One of the twins said: ‘No, that’s my mom.’

“I don’t want to justify it because people should mind their own business.”

The 43-year-old also revealed that the family has been pulled over by police “countless times,” with the couple recalling one incident five years ago that occurred when they were fostering two white foster girls.

“We were coming back from a family outing from Delaware and we got pulled over,” Jennifer said. “We had our children and two little strawberry blonde girls who we were fostering with us and the first thing the cops asked my husband was: ‘Whose kids are those?’

“And he wasn’t kind about it.”

Couple describes experiences with racism after adoption of white children (Jennifer McDuffie-Moore / SWNS)

According to Harry, the police officer who pulled over the couple’s fan “tried to say that the windows of our van were too dark and that’s why he pulled us over,” with the father adding: “But we knew why he pulled us over.”

The couple also experienced challenges associated with transracial adoption in 2016, when they adopted Keenan, who is also white. However, the couple said that the experience has been more intense adopting the twin boys, especially in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to the couple, they broach the topic of race in their own home frequently, with Jennifer acknowledging the importance of not pretending to be colourblind.

“We have conversations about race all the time - in our home we talk about it, we know that everyone is different, you have to acknowledge it and not pretend to be colourblind,” she said. “Last year was crazy. We saw all these racially charged incidents happen and we had to have conversations with our children.”

Mother details racist experiences after adopting white children (Jennifer McDuffie-Moore / SWNS)

However, Harry also notes that they wouldn’t let outside factors such as racism keep them from helping children in need.

“I knew what we were doing was the right thing to do,” he said. “I try my best not to feed into any nonsense about what people are feeling or doing.

“Don’t get me wrong, I hear little whispers and I get looks going to the supermarket and getting gas with the kids. But I’ve never paid attention to it or fed into it.”

Jennifer hopes that people focus on the importance of children finding a family instead of the colour of their skin, adding: “Instead of scrutinising what colour people are or their gender or their preferences, people should understand that love really does support a family.

“There are so many kids out there without homes.”

The Independent has contacted Jennifer for comment.