Russian siblings to be separated if families don’t adopt

Posted: 7/21/06

Elena	Rita	Dima	Kristina

Russian siblings to be separated
if families don’t adopt

By Russ Dilday

Buckner News Service

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—Two sets of Russian siblings will be separated—perhaps forever—if they are not adopted soon, reported Debbie Wynne, director of Buckner International Adoption.

In order to speed their adoption, donors have enabled Buckner to waive several key costs normally paid by adoptive parents.

Kostya, 13, and his sister, Ella, 9, as well as Dima, 12, and his sister, Kristina, 11, need to be adopted immediately.

“As children age out of care from younger children’s orphanages, they are placed in orphanages more appropriate for teens,” Wynne explained. “Kostya and Dima are both approaching that age, and their orphanage director has said she will soon be forced to separate them from their sisters because of their ages.

“It’s a heartbreaking situation,” said Phil Brinkmeyer, Buckner International Adoption’s Russia program coordinator.

Both pairs of children have traveled to the United States through Buckner’s Angels from Abroad program.

Ella and Kostya

Angels from Abroad allows Russian children to visit U.S. families “while raising awareness about the large number of older children living in Russian orphanages and Buckner programs to improve their lives,” said Lyndee Kiesling, BIA special events coordinator.

According to their orphanage director, Kostya and Ella would do well “in a family with older children in the home or as only children in the home.” Both children are musically talented and perform in their orphanage’s special presentations.

Their Angels host family called them “a blessing to the family that adopts them.”

Dima and Kristina “are loving and kind toward each other and those around them,” their Angels host family reported. “They are great candidates for adoption.”

Their orphanage director hopes the pair will be matched with parents who do not have other children.

Because of the urgent situation, Buckner has solicited donations to help defray the costs of international adoption, Wynne said.

“For both pairs, Buckner has waived some key fees,” she said. “With the additional support of concerned donors, we were able to offer $6,500 in savings for these adoptions.”

Placement of older children and sibling groups often is difficult “because of perceptions that older children might provide more challenging parenting situations, but the truth is these are children who hurt and hunger for a home as much as their younger counterparts,” Brinkmeyer said.

He pointed to the urgent-need sibling pairs as an example, as well as siblings Elena, 12, and Rita, 7, also Angels from Abroad participants who are waiting for adoption.

“These sweet girls are talented artists who love to perform, and their host family reported that they’re laid-back, easy-going and very quick learners,” he said. “They would do well in a family who has an older sister to serve as a mentor.”

“But again, their orphanage director is concerned about having to move Elena to an orphanage for older children soon and having to separate them because they have not been in the orphanage very long and are very close to each other.”

For more information, call Buckner Orphan Care International’s toll-free number, (866) 236-7823, or e-mail Brinkmeyer at pbrinkmeyer@buckner.org.