RESEARCH OF ORIGINS

Preamble

Every adopted child has a very particular story, because it is composed of two periods of life : the pre-adoptive and post-adoptive period.
For the most part, adopted children do not know about their story before they were adopted and may, consciously or unconsciously, ask legitimate questions.

  • Who am I ?
  • Where do I come from ?
  • Why was I adopted ?
  • Who are my biological parents ?
  • How do they look ?
  • Do I have brothers and sisters ?

Not being able to answer these questions can result in discomfort, embarrassment or even angst that an adoptee may feel at any time in their life, and the need to know their story may appear.

United States

Spain

Italy

France

Other countries

Number of children adopted in Russia by host country between 2003 and 2021

Data from the Ministry of Education of Russia and from Usynovite

“I was born in Nizhny Novgorod, 400 km east of Moscow, and I lived in this city before being adopted by my French family at the age of 5. Today, I live in Paris, but I regularly return to Russia. I write and speak fluently French, English and of course Russian, which allows me to maintain a strong link with my homeland.

In 2021, I started a search for my origins and, even if it was not always easy, I could find members of my biological family. They have shown me photos of my mother and have told me more about my birth family; I was able to find my biological father too. Now, I feel peaceful and fulfilled because I finally could fill a gap in my story.

Fortified by this experience and contacts, now I would like to help other adoptees from Russia in the quest for their origins.”

Pavel Closson

Proposed Services

The organization offers support for adoptees in the search for their origins in order to shed light on their pre-adoptive life story and to provide them with the missing pieces of the puzzle for their identity construction and personality consolidation.

OVER THE ADOPTEE

Search for birth data

Information on the place, day and exact time of birth, weight, height, etc.

Search for various documents and photos

Child’s medical records, orphan’s personal file, group photos, collecting testimonies, etc.

Search for friends from the orphanage

Search for the orphan’s bank account

Withdrawal of money (pension for loss of the breadwinner) paid to the orphan, in compliance with Russian legislation, as a result of the death of his parent (parents), and closure of the account

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

Putting the adoptee in touch with his orphanage and biological family

Acting as an intermediary, translation and interpretation services

Organization of a trip to the homeland

Drawing up a program and itinerary, meetings

OVER THE BIOLOGICAL FAMILY

Search for relatives and siblings

Discovery of places of residence, getting in contact

Request for obtaining vital records and establishment of family ties

Genealogical research, DNA analysis if necessary, search for information concerning deceased relatives

Search for various documents and photos

Orphan’s personal file, mother’s (and, possibly, father’s) medical records, search for schools attended, school documents and class photos, etc.

Establishment of a chronology of events

Writing of a family biography on the basis of testimonies collected from different sources and gathered documents

Search for circumstances of a relative’s death

Information on the place, day and cause of death

Search for graves

Information on the day of the funeral and burial place

Commitments and Guarantees

  • Assistance with the constitution of Russian identity documents, required authorizations and powers of attorney1
  • Translation of administrative documents2
  • Periodic reports on research progress
  • Transparency in the results
  • Strict confidentiality of the procedure
  • Financial participation of the organization in the expenses incurred by the families

1 Excluding costs for official documents certification
2 Russian, English, French