S1 EP9 (2023 Series) An Adoption Story: 22 year old Nina was born from a small village called Bol'shaya Vruda which is located just below Saint Petersburg in Russia. She was adopted at the age of three and a half years old by her American parents who then raised her in Rochester, New York.

Nina has always been told that she has siblings back in Russia but it wasn't until later on after her childhood that she decided to pursue a search. With the time for her that felt right, she was able to learn more on her birth family, with the difficult circumstance surrounding her birth mother to learning about her twin sister who passed away.

For Nina, since learning more on her birth family she has connected more with the adoption community worldwide, building her family tree to build more links and reaching out to others who may be going on a similar experience. She also plays a huge role with the I'm Adopted website as a writer for other adoptees.

This is her story.

// Watch more An Adoption Story Episodes //
EP 12 Felicita:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Felicita's Jo...  
EP 11 Marina:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Marina's Adop...  
EP 10 Ivan:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Iván's Discov...  
EP 9 Nina: Watching Now!
EP 8 ZacharyVictor:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Adopted from ...  
EP 7 Katya Reach:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Ukrainian  A...  
EP 6 Alexei D’Ath:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Alexei's Stor...  
EP 5 Vanya:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Vanya's Lost ...  
EP 4 Alex Kuch:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Alex's Early ...  
EP 3 Anya:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Anya’s Journe...  
EP 2 Vika:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Viktoria's Se...  
EP 1 Alexei:    • An Adoption Story (S1): Alexei's Jour...  

I want to also share a huge thank you to Nina's Mum for her help with this story and for ZacharyVictor who came with me to help film this story for Nina.

Thank you!

Where you can learn more about Nina:
https://www.imadopted.org/adopteenote...
  / ninamarie615  
and https://www.imadopted.org/adopteenotes


This 2023 series of an Adoption story is proudly supported by MyHeritage.
https://www.myheritage.com


Welcome! Here on my channel I share my journey, topics for adoptees, my vlogs, and support for others adopted, including their stories and journeys with my An Adoption Story series.

As a RussianNew Zealand adoptee, adopted at the age of two from an orphanage in Arkhangelsk, Russia, I share what I've been learning on my journey with my upbringing here in New Zealand, my current life, and how I connected with my birth family. I also share what my bloodline means for me with those connections from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Be sure to Subscribe if you haven't yet! You can also support my An Adoption Story series by clicking on 'Join' or by visiting https://www.youtube.com/alexgilbert/join. Every bit of your support helps. It means a lot!

Find Me on Social Media:
Instagram:   / alexgilbert  
Facebook:   / nzalexgilbert  

Visit I'm Adopted
I’m Adopted https://imadopted.org/
Facebook:   / imadoptedorg  
Donate to I'm Adopted through Givealittle: https://givealittle.co.nz/org/imadopt...

00:00 Introduction
01:25 Nina's Memories
03:26 Going to America after Adoption
06:15 Early School Years
08:55 Learning She's a Twin
09:49 The Loss of her Father
12:04 Early Searches
13:28 The Search for her Russian Family
14:13 Siblings Connection
16:10 Learning About the Passing of her Twin Sister
18:24 Connecting with her Birth Father
19:40 Support from the Adoption Community
21:20 Using MyHeritage to Build her Family Tree
22:21 Visiting a Local Russian Shop
23:56 Being Prepared
25:06 Outro