Just popping in on my blog to give a few updates.
I recently wrote an article for the Moscow Times that you can read here.
I had named the article Mr. Presidents, will you hear us?
but I guess they wanted a more direct title so it was changed.
The article was very difficult for me to write as I just
wanted to have them help us promote the documentary.
They said they had many articles on the ban so they wanted
our personal story.
I have had to put a lot of my emotions in a box to be able to live with
the pain of Natasha growing up in an orphanage.
So it was very difficult to try and bring those emotions back out
and still be able to function for the rest of my family.
There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of Natasha
but I have learned to hide my pain on most days
so it was not a lot of fun to relive those days that happened almost 3 years ago.
The anger that grows inside of me as I think about how long it has been
and how much older she has become while growing up in an orphanage when
she had a family who loved and wanted her can be debilitating at times.
So sometimes I pretend it hasn't been that long.
Sometimes I pretend it has just been a few months
and I will wake up from this nightmare and she will still be 6.
Because the reality of knowing that she will soon turn 10
is so painful and maddening that I really can't emotionally deal with it.
I also receive emails weekly from people around the country that are not
Americans who have similar stories of loving a Russian child and
then having their adoption stopped due to politics.
They reach out to me because they fill so alone and hopeless
and the burden I feel to help these children grows even bigger.
Recently I received a disheartening email from a family in Spain that
had been trying to adopt a child but were told his uncle would not approve it.
Then a few months later they found out a Russian family was allowed to adopt him but
that family returned him to the orphanage a few days later.
They have been desperately trying to find the child again to see if they could still
adopt him but no one will help them find the child.
So many children who could have had families. Their stories
are heartbreaking and rarely heard.
This is why I keep fighting for them.
Someone has to yell for the forgotten children.
I had named the article Mr. Presidents, will you hear us?
but I guess they wanted a more direct title so it was changed.
The article was very difficult for me to write as I just
wanted to have them help us promote the documentary.
They said they had many articles on the ban so they wanted
our personal story.
I have had to put a lot of my emotions in a box to be able to live with
the pain of Natasha growing up in an orphanage.
So it was very difficult to try and bring those emotions back out
and still be able to function for the rest of my family.
There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of Natasha
but I have learned to hide my pain on most days
so it was not a lot of fun to relive those days that happened almost 3 years ago.
The anger that grows inside of me as I think about how long it has been
and how much older she has become while growing up in an orphanage when
she had a family who loved and wanted her can be debilitating at times.
So sometimes I pretend it hasn't been that long.
Sometimes I pretend it has just been a few months
and I will wake up from this nightmare and she will still be 6.
Because the reality of knowing that she will soon turn 10
is so painful and maddening that I really can't emotionally deal with it.
I also receive emails weekly from people around the country that are not
Americans who have similar stories of loving a Russian child and
then having their adoption stopped due to politics.
They reach out to me because they fill so alone and hopeless
and the burden I feel to help these children grows even bigger.
Recently I received a disheartening email from a family in Spain that
had been trying to adopt a child but were told his uncle would not approve it.
Then a few months later they found out a Russian family was allowed to adopt him but
that family returned him to the orphanage a few days later.
They have been desperately trying to find the child again to see if they could still
adopt him but no one will help them find the child.
So many children who could have had families. Their stories
are heartbreaking and rarely heard.
This is why I keep fighting for them.
Someone has to yell for the forgotten children.
Recently I was interviewed for a new documentary along
with several other families who were trying to adopt from Russia,
Bill Browder (got congress to pass Magnitsky Act) and
Miles Harrison (his son died because he forgot him in the car and the ban is named after the child)
I have not seen the whole film yet but have been told it shows the different sides of
why the ban happened and how the US government has not heard our cries to make things
right and help get the children who met families home.
I have not seen the whole film yet but have been told it shows the different sides of
why the ban happened and how the US government has not heard our cries to make things
right and help get the children who met families home.
Here is the trailer for "To the Moon and Back"
Right now we are waiting to see if the film will be
accepted into the Heartland Film Festival in October.
It is our hope to get the attention of our government to help us
negotiate with the Russian government on behalf of the orphans left behind.
If you would like to follow along with the film's progress please
go like the FB page.
Remember to follow the Parents United for Russian Orphans FB page too.
That is where we keep people updated on what they can do to help
keep this issue alive.
I also get to see updated pictures of Natasha as her orphanage post
some on their FB page.
Here are some of her on Children's Day at their celebration.
She loves to dance
Her orphanage is really good about putting on special activities to celebrate holidays.
I love to see her being so active and being well taken care of.
Still hoping and praying for a home for her and
hoping she knows how very much so is loved.
