Russian Orphanage Experience

542 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How poverty and deprivation influence children's development

When I was 4 years old I was adopted from a Armenian Russian orphanage in Kotlas. I have never been told much about my adoption or my hometown from my adoptive parents, but when I tell people I am adopted from Russia they all are very interested. They all ask questions about where I am from but I have never had the answers or wanted to remember much about Russia to avoid the discomfort of those feelings. It is hard to describe to others how it feels to be adopted, especially from another country and that is why I feel this is something that defines who I am. If you know anything about Russian orphanages, you would know how poor the living conditions are or the lack thereof. Within the institutions, they lack the child development stages …show more content…

I have specific memories of daily shots, poor living conditions and playing with other children in the orphanage. It was not the worst childhood, but subconsciously, I have blocked out the worst memories to alleviate any negative feelings that could hold me back. When I was adopted and brought back to the United States with my new parents, I was immediately labeled as having one of the worst cases of rickets, my doctor had ever seen and I also struggled with a serious case of pneumonia. I remember check ups and knowing I was not well, but being loved and cared for by my adoptive parents made all the difference and impacted me tremendously and made me feel secure and wanted for the first time in my life. Where I am today, I do not have this demand inside of me to find my birth parents or visit where I came from, but one day I do hope I get that want to see where I was born and to also be able to bring awareness to those other children who struggle through those orphanages and do not have the love and support I was luckily enough to find with my adoptive

Show More
Related

  • Personal Narrative: Growing Up To An Addict

    1959 Words  | 4 Pages

    The orphanage had its up's and downs I remember certain things such as Movie and gave nights. I remember feeling a sense of coldness I had never felt before I was lonely and at times afraid. From there I went to my first foster home I believe her name was Ms. B I think I was about 12 year's old going there. At this time I was use to not being with my mom and being my own man. Yes man at the age of 12, starting off it wasn’t so bad there was another kid there with the same name as mine. He and I use to sit up and talk about what and who we were going to be when you grew up. There were times when Ms. Johnson had her boyfriend come over to the house they would listen to loud music and drink she got so drunk that at times she made Marquise and I stand in the corner all night long for no good reason at all. I remember visiting my mom in rehab telling her all of what she was doing to me how I didn’t want to be there how mean and lonely it was there. I guess I was thinking I was going to go home someday as she was in rehab getting clean from the drugs. The years went by as I still sat in what felt like a prison with its ups and downs. I talked with my case worker about what was going on in the home they later moved me

    Read More

  • How It Feels To Be Colored Me By Zora Neale Hurston

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    I have always known that I was adopted. There was never one day when I realized that my parents were not biologically related to me. Being adopted has always been a part of me, ever since early childhood. Almost every year, in my elementary school classes, I had to create a project in which I had to describe myself. Sometimes I would have to use objects or pictures, at other times I would have to write an essay or poem. Every single time I completed a variation of that assignment, I included the same three facts about myself: I like to dance, I enjoy going to the beach, and I am adopted. I remember being so proud to

    Read More

  • Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs Case Study

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    The physical and sexual abuse was what scared me then, and I formed a “I must please to survive” mind set. Down the road I was kicked out of my father’s house, and sent into my mom’s care. This is when the other part of my abuse began to show it’s face in my life. I was no longer in an a place where I needed to worry about my physiological needs, safety, or security.

    Read More

  • Psychological Effects On People Who Are Adopted

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    No one knows what it feels like to be someone that is adopted other than people who are. People who are adopted usually have an emotional impact as well as psychological effects because of being adopted. It took longer for me to find my own identity, and to develop what my identity is today even though I am still not 100% sure who I am. I also obtain a great amount of guilt or feeling lonely at some port in time. There are many times where I have felt unwanted or in some cases abandoned. This could mean the smallest impacts on my life such as a friend leaving or not wanting to hang out. A breakup can also be something that will impact me more than others could because of that feeling of abandonment. Though it is hard on myself it is also hard on the peop...

    Read More

  • How Adoption Can Affect A Child 's Development

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...edical history and I was able to have a relationship with my family and not have the added stress of not knowing where I come from. I did not experience any disadvantages from being adopted however, when I looked at the stages one goes through as they get older I can apply them to my life. I feel I may have skipped some stages , but I did question why my mother could not get off the drugs to be able to take care of me and my siblings, however I know it’s not personal because she did not raise any of my siblings. Adoption is something that one is fortune to be loved and to be picked by a family, however I think it is important to be aware of the physical, cognitive and emotional aspects of adopting someone. Overall, I know that I will encounter and adopted student and to be able to have a teacher who was adopted will only help me build a relationship with that child.

    Read More

  • Growing Up To Adoption And After Adoption

    499 Words  | 1 Pages

    In conclusion I have had a difficult life and have had to adapt to new people and enviroments multiple times. Although this was at times difficult I still turned out ok and love my new family. All in all the lead up to my adoption, my adoption and after the fact wasn’t ll that

    Read More

  • Adoption Of Children In The 1800s

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are now different types of adoptions such as going through an agency adoption, independent adoptions, step parent adoptions, international adoption, and lastly an open agency adoption. Many individuals face these particular adoptions today. Adoptions however affect adoptive parents, biological parent, and over all family. An adoption can affect an adopter by yearning to build that family but on the other hand still being terrified that something can possibly go wrong. Also an adoption affects a biological parent the most because there whole life is affected by this choice but sometimes a mother or father will do it for the better of the child. A biological parent will ponder to a whole bunch of unanswered questions about the child’s life with the adoptive family such as being care and nurtured by the new family? Or maybe even wonder if the new family will tell their child they’re adopted. Adoptions affect a biological parent by grief because they know its not a conversation to touch upon with anyone, they can encounter unresolved grief where it can affect the mothers feelings of happiness and worthelessness because they put there child up for adoption. This can escalate a biological parent to become angry at their parents or even the

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Recovered Memories

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    Recovered memories of childhood trauma and abuse has become one of the most controversial issues within the field of psychology. Controversy surrounding repressed memory - sometimes referred to as the memory wars – reached its’ peak in the early 1990s, where there was a rise in the number of people reporting memories of childhood trauma and abuse that had allegedly been repressed for many years (Lindsay & Read, 2001). There are a number of different factors that have contributed to the dispute surrounding recovered memories. Firstly, there is an ongoing debate about whether these types of memories actually exist or whether these accusations arose as a result of suggestive therapeutic procedures. In particular, this debate focuses on two main

    Read More

  • Orphans in 19th Century Victorian England

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    A very common fate of orphans was adoption. They were often taken in by relatives or neighbors, and even, on occasion, strangers wishing to raise them as their own children. In England, there were no laws concerning adoption until the 1920s, so most adoption was informal. Children who were adopted by their own social class were usually treated fairly and equally… however, if they were adopted by a family whose status was above and beyond their original class, they were frequently mistreated and neglected. Children of different social classes were not encouraged to fraternize, so if an orphan was taken into a household where higher class children lived, they could be forbidden to even speak to them (Czarnik).

    Read More

  • The Advantages and Disadvantages of Close and Open Adoption

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    The best things in life come free to us. Our parents are one of the most important and fundamental in our life. However, people generally wonder, do adopted children feel the same way we do? Adoption is not easy, it's full of risks, simply because no one is aware of the future, the person adopting a child will never know how the child will react once he's aware he's adopted. Will they grow to love them, hate them, admire them or fear them? All of these unanswerable questions makes any person think twice before having the courage to adopt. Adoption never fails to put down any parents' feelings, whether they were homeless, abandoned, poor or runaway children and also families who don't have the option of being biological parents, the pleasure it gives to all of those people exceeds all of it's expected problems. However; adoption has some positive sides. It's one of life's fair treaties. It gives hope and integrity to the families who weren't fortunate to conceive; moreover, it changes the life of the child forever mostly positively. That's why many people support adoption worldwide.

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Adoption

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the years we began to get closer, not just friends, but practically brothers. We did absolutely everything together, band, drama, and tennis. Then one day he started to talk about his life and how much different it would be if he wasn't adopted. This sparked my interest in adoption and all the benefits behind it. Everyone wanting to have children should consider their options and keep an open mind about adoption.

    Read More

  • Erikson´s Theory of Development: Story of My Life

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    At a young age I was put into foster care. This was something that I would have to say has both its ups and downs. I saw good days and there are other times that I would not see the day at all. I was subjected to abuse, neglect, and even love while in foster care. The reason I was but here is because my mother had too many children and was very abusive. My mother, Rose Brown, was hit by a car at a young age causing her to have several different mental health issues. By the time I was seven my mother had nineteen children. Because of her lack of ability to take care of her children my mother had to put us all in foster care.

    Read More

  • AIDS-Infected Orphans

    1652 Words  | 4 Pages

    population, and orphans would be the 8th largest country in the world. "facts about orphans." Retail Orphan Initiative. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2010. .

    Read More

  • My Past Present and Future

    1553 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...along the way. I may have blocked out a lot of my childhood, but that is ok. I must not be ready to remember it yet; maybe someday I will. Who is to say? I just try really hard to make sure the memories I make now are lasting ones that are worth remembering.

    Read More

  • Feral Children: The Extreme Cases Of Feral Children

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper will discuss the extreme cases of feral children. Feral children known as wild child, are children who has lived in an isolated environment from human contact from a very young age. This leaves the child vulnerable with little or no experience with the basic needs to socialize or survive in society. This information on feral children allows us to see their point of view on how humans will behave if culture doesn’t exist. These children are normally taken in by animals living in the wilderness. Feral children don’t have to be raised by animals. Therefore, there have been severe cases where parents will confine their children from the world. When parents abandon their child from an early age, this

    Read More

More about Russian Orphanage Experience

Open Document