This is the next installment in the nearly completed series of Caroline's telling of her own adoption experiences. Caroline tells here about being adopted with and without both of her younger sisters.

You and Galina came to live with a new family in Arizona. (note: At this time, the three girls were 13, 12,& 7.) The photo above has sister Galina on the right. All three girls, now sisters, are celebrating "America Days", the anniversaries of their arrival in the USA.Your littlest sister stayed behind to continue living with the first adoptive family. Tell us about that.

I hate Susan and Doug. It’s mean, but it’s true. It’s not fair that they bring us all together and then they separate us. The three of us are supposed to be living in a family together, but they brought us here and then separated us again. I feel like I’m the one that took care of her when she was a baby – she is MY sister and I know about her and I should get to live with her. They don’t even know anything about her, but she lives with them. I can’t do anything about it. It’s not fair.

A year after we came to Arizona, Susan and Doug decided they didn’t want her because she was too hard for them, I guess. She does have fetal alcohol syndrome (as does Galina) and some other problems. So, they sent her here to be with us and to get adopted with us. I was really happy about that. Things were going great. She was with me and Galina. Everyone here liked her. She was doing good in school and got along with mom and dad. She stayed here almost one year. Then, for some reason that no one seems to understand, Susan and Doug showed up one day and took her back. I haven’t seen her since then.

I could have contact with her, I think, but I don’t. Part of the reason is because to talk to her, I have to talk to Susan and Doug. I’m really angry with them and I don’t want to talk to them at all. If I send her a letter, they will read it first and they might tell her something different than what I meant to write. I just don’t want anything to do with the parents at all. But, it shouldn’t end up that I don’t have any contact with my sister. I guess I just need to make time and just do it.

What would you want to tell people about the relationship between siblings or keeping siblings together in adoption?

First of all, I would tell people that bring siblings back together in an adoption to never split them up again. It can really mess them up. Some people think that kids will get used to their new family and that birth family or sibling ties are not all that important. That’s not true. See, I have a new adoptive family now and I love being part of this family. I am here with one other birth sister. We don’t spend all our time together, but we have each other here and that is very important. Even though my adoption is great and I love my family, I still think of my birth sister who is not here. I really miss her a lot. I have a very busy life now. And I long for my little sister every single day.

This is 8th in the series of Caroline's story. Next blog will be the final part of the series.
Previous blog: Adoption Disruption and Re-Adoption