An Adoption Story (S1): Ukrainian - American Adoptee Katya Reach Shares Her Emotional Story

[@goranm7036]

Such an amazing young woman, eloquent, intelligent and beautiful. Her parents had done a great job helping her overcome developmental challenges she had in her early childhood. Thank you Alex, and the best of luck to you and Katya.

[@Ponkelina]

Wow what an incredible young woman Katya is.

[@Apparentemptiness]

Tajik Russian adoptee here from Louisiana! Loved this so much.

[@mamako7325]

Such an eloquent and lovely girl ! I wish her all the best ! ❤

[@sherrywalton6258]

Very inspiring story. What a strong young lady.

[@leeannekaden2600]

A wise beautiful person. Thanks Alex

[@privatename8228]

Beautiful! What a well spoken young woman. She has a very good understanding of the huge role attachment trauma plays in a person's life. Nice work Alex!

[@alexanderkuch8620]

A really moving story Katya and great presenting as always Alex

[@evaalarcon808]

Beautiful story it touched my heart. God Bless you and Alex🙏

[@onyyxmoon]

Her story is touching and inspiring. Thanks u to share this. ❤

[@adamm3163]

Beautiful story! Very professional Alex you are a good presenter!

[@gostavoadolfos2023]

This such inspirational moving story, Katia is such a strong beautiful person 💪 praying for Katia biological mom safety 🙏

[@lulua.9514]

When she speaks, I truly listen. She is eloquent and well spoken when she speaks and she really hooked me in. 19 lbs at 4 years old.. :-(

[@aleksushiii9118]

I am also an adoptee, from near Kharkiv in Ukraine and I found this video amazing ! I have always wanted to reach out and find my birth family in Ukraine, however, with the events of the past year and my home town being one of the regions heavily affected, I feel like that dream is no longer possible. Seeing such stories is always a little bittersweet for me, I am, however, glad that Katya was able to find happiness in that regard, and I find what she is doing amazing ! :D

[@RomanKovbasyuk]

That's sad, but you shouldn't lose hope. The town you were adopted from may have been razed by RuZZians, but with some luck, your relatives likely managed to escape. Provided that they even lived there at the time of occupation. In any event, even a war may not prevent you from doing a DNA test and finding some cousins. Even at this time, some people in Ukraine continue their family research. The war and the real danger of losing relatives actually makes it more urgent to perform long postponed testing of older or distant relatives. So, the base for comparison is growing. Wish you the best of luck in your pursuit!

[@tarocchiintuizioneeintrosp9381]

Nx​

[@tarocchiintuizioneeintrosp9381]

​

[@tarocchiintuizioneeintrosp9381]

Nd

[@sasharemez7373]

It’s amazing how these kids who were ejected are now helping their moms heal from their own trauma. People who are healthy emotionally and mentally don’t give up their kids, those who are traumatised and hurt and feel unable to care for a child make these kid of decisions. It’s not their fault, life is hard for those people, so it’s amazing to see how their kids help them heal! This is amazing! We all need some grace on daily basis.

[@studio95951]

A beautiful story. Thank you for sharing. There is always hope in this world.

[@scottiemire3765]

Another great story, I always look forward to your interviews. Great job Alex and much success to Katya and I hope she meets her birth family soon.

[@MegaVictorygirl]

As a daughter of a Ukrainian refugee who grew up in an orphanage, I have so much admiration for Katya. You’re both beautiful and you’re turning out rather well on all fronts. 😊

[@Beverly2020]

Katya is an amazing, articulate, wise young lady. Loved hearing her story. Pretty amazing adoptive parents too to help her process all she went through those early years. I live in Tyler, as well. I hope our paths cross someday.

[@NanetteWoolston]

What an amazing story that Katya has shared about her adoption and her journey to connecting with her birth family!

[@panchamama]

You bring so much hope and understanding

[@crystalwright1504]

Awww, best wishes to all.

[@eegiibanzragch2473]

Bravo 🎉

[@jessgunn6639]

My lord her moms are so alike you'd have to ask yourself if they are sisters! Definitely a sign she was with the family she was meant for!

[@danellemoore1461]

I love how knowledgeable she has for her human development and brain science. Learning about why we feel and behave the way we do and how that is connected to our needs is so helpful in healing.

[@jennypalmer331]

Thank you Katya and Alex for this. I have never adopted but do have 3 grown children. Some of the stories I have listened to just break my heart

[@laurasmentek1395]

There is a ministry in Colorado called ; ‘Ukraine Orphan Outreach.’ The couple that started this ministry adopted 4 kids from the Ukraine. They now help other people adopt from Ukraine. There is a lot they are doing also over in the Ukraine.

[@cocosurgerow]

She looks like her parents’ natural child. That’s neat how they said she was God’s child first.

[@eddjaytay11]

Wow I am only half way through her story what an amazingly insightful intelligent person! I can't wait to finish watching!

[@michellewinkler3985]

This is a remarkable young woman! Wow! One comment I would like to make. I was adopted, my bio mom was adopted. My bio mom had a foster sister live with her family for awhile. Then the foster sister went back to her father. This really confused and upset my bio mother. Why didn't her father come for her? Would she have to go somewhere and be given away again? It was VERY confusing and traumatizing. I don't think people think about this when they have adoptive children and bring in foster children. Based on this, I wouldn't recommend it. If you adopt just have adopted children in the home or just foster, not both.

[@anugillsten5996]

I pray Katya has her mother in Usa now when there is that awful war now..💔

[@alexgilbert]

Katya is still in touch with her birth mother from time to time. Her birth mother is still currently in Ukraine. Katya is doing everything she can to keep that contact going. Thank you for watching :)

[@anugillsten5996]

@@alexgilbert many many prayers-this world is too much in war. 😥are you and your family ok? It's Hard times to all💔❤️‍🩹 sending hugs from Finland 💖

[@conner1354]

I know this was last year. How is her family doing in Ukraine with the war there going on?

[@alexgilbert]

Thank you for watching!

[@ltpoltsi289]

the part of Ukraine where Katya's biological mom lives is occupied by russia ( you can see their flag on one of the pictures)

[@JyrgalOmurkulov]

Alex, sometimes the unfamiliarity with cultural peculiarities which may lead to the precondition of a child being left in the orphanage is really a bliss. As the one who is closely acquainted with Russian culture I can say that not only economic conditions of these biological mothers and the whole razzle-dazzle in the country at the time contributed to their decisions to give up their kids, but also their utter sexual promiscuity. As alcoholism is much more pervasive in Russian and Ukrainian society than you can even imagine, even more than in warped Maori communities, the thing described in Russian with the verb "perepikhnut'sya", meaning "to have a coincidental sexual intercourse" is quite prevalent in the cases filmed in your videos. These women didn't contracept properly or just had hooked up under the influence of booze or something else, and then fobbed their kids off to orphanages, not necessarily because of dire life circumstances. When the reconnection takes place they expectedly don't want to show themselves in such a unmeritorious light and proceed to tell another story that might somehow justify their past move regarding the child. I see that just like your biological mom, the mother of this girl still struggles with alcohol addiction. It's what you can see and hear from her voice and the indicative face structure she got in the course of the years-long abuse. I know so many kids who were born "by accident" in a drinking spree, or those having been conceived as a result of rape, and whom mothers shuffled off to foster care institutions. Sorry for speaking my mind, Alex, but I think that even some of the health issues you might've had as a child you inherited because of your mom's excessive drinking or smoking during pregnancy. Good that she gave birth to you though, and that you've forgiven freely. Once you learn Russian and live in Russia for a longer while, you'll see how alcohol and spiritual vacuum ruin the life of the whole nation.

[@shazza160]

What hell are you comparing Russian with so called ‘warped Maori’ communities. Who the hell are you to say Maori communities are warped? That is pure racism. I will be reporting this comment.

[@gelievna]

Спасибо за рассказ. Перевод в названии не совсем верный. Adoptee - усыновленная. А усыновительница - это тот, кто усыновил, то есть приемный родитель.

[@alexgilbert]

Спасибо