What do you do when you encounter a spirited little girl in a Russian orphanage and know in your heart that she is yours and you have to adopt her? For single, childless, 40-year-old Dee Thompson, it began with an astonishing dream of a little girl reaching out to her. Meeting the little girl led to an almost two year odyssey that changed Dee forever. Throughout the adoption, hurdles kept popping up that sent Dee reeling-a job layoff, an uncooperative orphanage director, a boyfriend who broke her heart, friends and family members telling her she was crazy, an uncaring agency that kept telling her to choose a different child-and many others. Despite everything, Dee's faith in God, support from her mother, and single-minded conviction that she had to bring her daughter home helped her stay on course. Letters from her daughter Alesia brightened the long, scary months of waiting. Finally, all the mountains had been moved, and a mother and daughter came home from Russia, a family at last.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Prevailing Determination,
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This review is from: Adopting Alesia: My Crusade for My Russian Daughter (Paperback)
Probably what enthralled me the most was Dee Thompson's vivid descriptions of Khabarovsk, Russia. I've neither read much about it, nor ever considered it on my long list of places I'd like to travel to someday. She made a cold, hard place seem downright enticing.
Her adoption plans, initiated in a dream, fulfilled surprisingly quickly as she immediately and literally met the specific girl in her dreams, and then slowly succeeded against all odds in adopting Alesia. Adoptive parents often fall in love with a potential child through adoption photolistings of waiting children or babies, yet nearly every time, the parent is immediately discouraged by experienced and well-meaning social workers to not get their hearts set upon a particular child, as there are often formidable roadblocks in one's quest. Added to the struggle equation was the cold, hard, stark reality that no American had ever been able to adopt a child from Topolevo. Not ever making the reader feel as if this were a pie-in-the sky dream, instead Dee Thompson literally embarked upon a crusade, a single-minded mission to get this one particular older child, Alesia, out of a bleak orphanage with few options in her future. Weaving in stories about her own life back in Atlanta, the challenges of being a 40 year old single woman with the obvious need to support herself and any future children, and a bit of a love life, readers will find themselves devouring the story, hoping and praying both for Dee and Alesia to be reunited and living together in the United States at some point, to begin their life together, as it truly seemed not only inevitable, but absolutely necessary. I've had the unique opportunity for the past several years to be peeking in the windows of Dee's home that she now lives in with her two children and her mother via her blog The Crab Chronicles. I knew how the story would end, yet I was breathless with anticipation for Dee to return to Russia in order to bring Alesia home to Atlanta, where it seemed she was destined to live someday, if this headstrong woman had her way. It made me think about how many more children could be adopted, or how many more orphanages could be helped, or how many more adoptions could be financially facilitated if more people would follow Dee's lead and pour themselves into some sort of a mission somewhere. A motivating, feel good book with a happy ending, however once fraught with difficulties this journey seemed to be filled with along the way. Adopting Alesia is a powerful read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tears and laughter!,
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This review is from: Adopting Alesia: My Crusade for My Russian Daughter (Paperback)
This book is an incredible story of one woman's faith, determination, and love for a child she "meets in a dream"; a child she is determined to save from the sickening fate of most older unadopted children in Russia. A child she is determined to bring home as her daughter. I found the story from almost the beginning to the end absolutely riveting. About one-third of the way into it I found myself hanging on to each twist in the story and rooting for the author and her soon-to be-adoptive daughter.
The photograph of Alesia on the front cover made me pick this book up; though I really had no idea what sort of a read I was in for. I am sure this would be a great book for anyone to read who is considering a foreign adoption, as it is a vivid account of both the emotional and bureaucratic hoops adoptive parents must jump through. But for me, it was also a great story of faith, love, and the mysterious threads that tie all us, as humans, together. Also, it's nice and short so you can read it one or two sittings!:)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging and Uplifting Read!,
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This review is from: Adopting Alesia: My Crusade for My Russian Daughter (Paperback)
Dee Thompson has written an inspiring book about the struggles and joys of adopting her daughter, Alesia, from an orphanage in Russia, describing the overall experience in vivid detail. Every aspect of the adoption process is beautifully told in this book from the very beginning when Dee first saw Alesia in a Russian orphanage until the happy conclusion when Alesia is finally in her new home. Dee remained steadfast in her determination to bring her daughter home when others would have crumbled under the difficult circumstances she faced along the way. This is an engaging and uplifting read. Anyone who is contemplating adopting an older child from another country should read this book! I also highly recommned Ms. Thompson's other book, Jack's New Family, about a young boy from an orphanage in Russia adapting to his new life after being adopted.
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