MOSCOW — For the children of a Moscow orphanage, it was a glimpse of a life of plenty. For their visitors, 18-year-old twin sisters from California, it was an emotional return to a place where they once struggled to survive.
More than 16 years after an American couple traveled here to collect two malnourished 2-year-old girls named Galina and Svetlana, the identical twins — now Jessica and Jennifer Allen — have made their first trip back to Children’s Home No. 13.
As Russia and the United States work out an ugly dispute over abuse of Russian adopted children, the sisters’ story brings home how international adoptions can have a happy ending, and carries a message of hope to former Cold War foes struggling to break down barriers of distrust.
The twins celebrated their Russian heritage as their journey came full circle last week.
“It’s like, wow, we’re from here,” said Jennifer, formerly Svetlana. Her sister chimed in: “We’re definitely Russian.”
The twins have high Slavic cheekbones but sound like typical California teenagers.
Russia has for years been the second biggest source nation, after China, of adopted children for Americans. But such adoptions have fallen steadily in the wake of a string of abuse scandals that outraged Russians.
This month the two countries hope to sign a binding agreement obliging the U.S. to investigate any reports of trouble and to increase oversight of adopting families.
Russia demanded such an agreement after an adoptive mother from Tennessee put her 7-year-old boy on a plane back to Moscow last year, unaccompanied. At least 17 adopted Russian children have died in domestic violence in American families, according to Russian officials.
Many fear that tighter regulations might cause potential adoptive parents to look to other countries and leave more Russian children at the mercy of underfunded and overcrowded orphanages.
There are roughly 250,000 children in state orphanages. As many as 80 percent of Russian orphans end up in jail, abuse drugs or turn to prostitution or other crimes.
“We’re so lucky that we got adopted,” Jessica said. “In the pictures, we didn’t even have clothes that fit. I had to wear boys clothes.”
In 1994, the girls’ adoptive parents, Pam and Mike Allen, had two biological sons and were eager to adopt a girl to “fill out” their family. When offered twin girls, they quickly agreed.
In late August 1994, Pam, a nurse, and Mike, a former Top Gun pilot, arrived at Children’s Home No. 13 armed with a trove of toys and medicine as gifts. To their alarm, they found the 25-month-old girls had just been discharged from a hospital with suspected whooping cough.
In America, they recovered fully under Western medical care.
Little is known about the Allen twins’ biological parents other than their mother gave them up due to poverty. In the orphanage, their care was supervised by Irina, who still works at the home and greeted the girls on their return.
“It is so nice to see such girls, who were small and also pretty ill when they were taken, now turned into such beauties when they have grown up,” said Irina, who gave only her first name. “It is very nice because you feel that your work hasn’t been wasted.”
The trip to Russia was a graduation present. The twins soon leave the family home in Escondido, Calif., for college. Jessica, who won a hockey scholarship at St. Louis University, will major in nursing, while Jennifer will major in communications at the University of California.
Although they now have a better appreciation of their Russian heritage, they remain all-American girls.
“I feel more American because I laugh, and like to have a good time,” Jessica said.
“Everyone here’s really serious.”
