Three sick youngsters on an airplane and an overwhelmed
husband sounds like a scene from a big-budget disaster
movie.
For Susan Sohn, it was the bumpy beginning to a rewarding
life with three adopted international children.
 |
ADOPTION JOURNEY: Susan Sohn, international
student specialist in the Office of International
Students, displays a photo of her three children
she
and her husband adopted from Russia years ago.
Sohn shared her experiences of the international
adoption process with a group in the Kiva Room
of
the EMU Student Center. The discussion was part
of
EMU's celebration of International Week. |
Sohn, international student specialist in the Office of
International Students and an adoptee herself, shared the
joys, trials and experiences of adopting her three Russian
daughters with an audience in the Kiva Room of the new
Student Center Nov. 15. "Sharing the International Adoption
Journey," was an informal discussion for EMU employees
to gather and share their stories and challenges of international
adoption. The event was part of EMU's celebration of International
Week.
Sohn and her husband, Loren, adopted three daughters:
Raya, and twins Masha and Dasha in 1992. At the time, Raya
was seven and the twins, six.
But, it wasn't necessarily smooth sailing from the start,
considering Sohn said she originally only wanted one child.
"I didn't want to be outnumbered," she said.
When the Sohns traveled to Russia to pick up the three
girls from an orphanage, the girls were sad to leave as
they had emotionally bonded with their caregivers.
To make matters worse, the orphanage would not allow the
three girls to leave with anything they had been given
— including the clothes on their backs – during their stay
at the orphanage.
Luckily, Sohn had brought along clothes for her new children.
Still, the language barrier proved difficult as Sohn spoke
very little Russian.
"I had a language barrier and knew about 25 motherly phrases: 'Wait
five minutes,' 'Sit down,' and 'That's not a toy,'" Sohn
recalled.
The young girls knew even less of their native language.
After two days of becoming acquainted, the new family
unit traveled by plane from Moscow to Helsinki. During
the flight, the girls were overly stimulated. They
went to the bathroom often and had motion sickness, to
the point where Sohn had to ask stewardesses for more motion
sickness bags.
The ordeal didn't improve during the flight from Helsinki
to New York's JFK Airport. The girls couldn't sit still.
At one point, Sohn's husband, Loren, felt overwhelmed and
began crying. He told his wife he couldn't take
it any more and wondered what they had gotten themselves
into.
"Thank heavens for the Christian Missionaries," Sohn said
with a heavy sigh, explaining the missionaries gave the
new parents a break.
The five landed at JFK and took a cab to LaGuardia Airport.
From
there, the new family concluded its journey with a direct
flight to Detroit.
Unbeknownst to Sohn, her mother had called the local television
stations to capture the family's first steps into their
new home. On the eve of Mother's Day, channels 2,
4 and 7 were there to greet them, adding chaos to an already
eventful day.
Life eventually got better, as the family became more
cohesive. But, it took time as the language barrier was
an issue.
For a while, the girls adapted and spoke English. Then,
they went into what Sohn described as "no mans land." The
girls didn't speak at all. One day, Raya came home
from kindergarten with holes she'd cut in her skirt. Sohn
called a Russian friend, who had been assisting the family
with language translation.
But, the girls didn't speak Russian anymore. So,
no one knew why Raya modified her skirt.
Sohn believed her adopted children had a learning disability;
the schools wanted to blame it on the Russian language.
Sohn and her husband fought the schools and worked to get
the girls the education they needed.
Today, Raya, 21, is a student at EMU, majoring in physical
education. Masha, 20, is studying at Oakland Community
College. Dasha, also 20, is auditioning for the U.S. Army's
Fife and Drum Corps, also called the Old Guard. Dasha takes
drum lessons three to four times per week.
"So many children are looking for families to love them.
I'd do it again," Sohn said. "I don't see any difference
between birthing them and traveling thousands of miles
for them. I've sat up nights, and they're mine. That's
how I see them."
It's been a long, challenging journey for the Sohns. But,
looking at the fuzzy picture of the three little girls
in their identical jumpers, and seeing the beautiful, carefree
young women they've become, it's obvious the journey has
been filled with love and caring.
