An Adoption Story (S1): Anya’s Journey Searching Through Those Birth Family Links

S1 EP3 (2023 Series) An Adoption Story: Mother of three Anya Gibson, lives right down in the far south of New Zealand. She was adopted at the age of four from a regional orphanage (Number 12) inside of Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Prior to her adoption, she was looked after by her grandmother but found out later that she was placed into the orphanage due to her grandmother not being able to look after her. She has managed to track down connections but there are still many questions unanswered. She shared with me her journey from the very beginning.
This is her story.
// Watch more an Adoption story Episodes //
EP 12 - Felicita: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 11 - Marina: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 10 - Ivan: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 9 - Nina: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 8 - Zachary-Victor: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 7 - Katya Reach: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 6 - Alexei D’Ath: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 5 - Vanya: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 4 - Alex Kuch: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 3 - Anya: Watching Now!
EP 2 - Vika: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
EP 1 - Alexei: • An Adoption Story (S1)...
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 Russian-New 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 kzbin.infojoin. 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 imadopted.org/
- Facebook: / imadoptedorg
- Donate to I'm Adopted through Givealittle: givealittle.co.nz/org/imadopt...
00:00 Introduction
00:35 Titles
02:57 Anya's Childhood
05:10 Revisiting Grandmas Home
08:05 Keeping Details Prior to her Adoption
09:55 Back to NZ with Two New Siblings
10:58 Helping Anya find her Birth Family
13:01 Family Connections for Anya's Own Children
15:08 Missing Siblings in Russia
17:27 Anya's Journey for the Future
19:31 Guilt that Birth Families May Hold
21:10 Life in Invercargill and What's Next
23:06 Advice for Others Wanting to Search
24:55 Ending
25:33 Revisiting a Childhood Photo Together and Bloopers

[@alexgilbert]

Hello everyone! Just a note on Anya’s story. She was always expecting to meet a mother but she had left the picture and with where she was, Anya was never able to find out. She’s still on this journey to figure out what happened with her birth parents. Her half brother and sister were in the picture as they were with the grandmother. The mother was never clear with Anya or her grandmother too. She may have left and never came back. Thank you for watching! 🙏

[@stefaniafilosa3224]

As an adoptive mother of a wonderful five-years-old Russian boy, I really appreciate what you're doing, Alex All of us need to know our own origins in order to build our identities. And we need to make peace with our past - if needed - in order to live serenely. Roots are so important to any human being to grow up in a harmonious way. Your work has such a great value to me and my son. God bless you!

[@georgepetrin1334]

Just got around to watching this video---it was extremely enjoyable. Anya is a wonderful person and certainly has the right outlook on the difficulty she has ahead of her but his tenacious to keep on. I hope she is able to find the missing pieces in her Russian family. She has a lovely family. Best wishes to her in finding her roots. I hope she comes back on with you if she is successful.

[@annabondaruk4583]

I wish Anya a good luck to find out about her parents and siblings.

[@sherrywalton6258]

Very nice person. I got that she does not know what happened to her birth mother? No information on her at all? Hope she can find out more birth family history.

[@brettbatchelder6215]

Anya is an incredibly person! She shows the belief in yourself.

[@jennypalmer331]

Anya has done so much. I hope she is able to get her whole story. Again Thank you Alex for all you do and for posting so we can follow

[@hendo19742]

WATCHING FROM THE UK FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS NOW!👍🇿🇦🇬🇧🇿🇦🇬🇧

[@LauraG313]

Thanks for sharing! I love love love hearing these stories. Also loved the photo reenactment at the end. 😁 Curious-if you can share, what happened to her mother? Is her grandmother paternal or maternal? ❤

[@alexgilbert]

Unfortunately with her mother, she went missing. Grandmother is connected through her birth mother however with a different father. It’s a complicated family tree. But I know for Anya, she will continue to find out more as her journey continues :)

[@anapaulasmoraes1839]

❤