Our GuestBlogger today is David Archuletta, the father of a wrongfully adopted son. His son was placed for adoption by his girlfriend; he was told that the baby was stillborn and not his. The child was his and now David is devoted to adoption reform in the U.S. He has published a book: "Odyssey of an Unknown Father: The Complete Book on Wrongful Adoption." To date he has yet to see his child.

David has a newly published novel: " Dying Swans Club / An Expose: A Rosie O'Donnell Funded Adoption Agency."  This novel explores the hidden reasons behind the closure of a Rosie O'Donnell funded Adoption Agency. "It is a story that reflects on the life of the author and a four year-old girl named Destiny. This child considers as first victim of a wrongful adoption case."  This book is available for purchase here.

To the Sirs and Madams of our nation's library:

In analogy, the Library of Congress is a brick and mortar structure built on a foundation of knowledge formed through the perseverance of those that seek such knowledge. However, although well-schooled, we are still yet but imperfect human beings. That said, even in these hallowed halls, sometimes we can run across wrongly applied determinations. Moreover, although these oversights are published by an authority perspective to each field of expertise, when found, shouldn’t we correct these wrongs? In my opinion, this should be done regardless if the error found by a common layperson such as myself.

In the Library of Congress Subject Heading department there is a newly recognized term. It is “Wrongful Adoption,” and it cites definition as follows:

Stacey is the adoptive parent of a Russian born child. She successfully completed a birthmother search and has been kind enough to share this information with us at Adoption Under One Roof.

Part 4 - The search for information continues.

One last search came in the way of my daughter's bio maternal aunt. The aunt sent pictures of the maternal grandmother and uncle, who have both since passed away at relatively young ages. The aunt did not want to chat much with the searcher, but sent her regards. Maybe we will meet her when we travel to Russia. My next challenge is to tell my girls in Russia about my daughter's other Mom, my partner. This will not be easy. I wrote this story from my perspective, but my partner has been here from the beginning of the adoption. Our daughter only knows what it is like to have two moms.

Stacey is the adoptive parent of a Russian born child. She successfully completed a birthmother search and has been kind enough to share this information with us at Adoption Under One Roof.

Part 3: What will the older sister tell us?

The searcher videotaped the older sister and provided a report. During the interview the searcher asked my daughter's sister many questions. It was amazing to finally see this information on paper and eventually get to see the video interview. She is an amazing young woman especially after spending the first 19 years of her life in an orphanage. The mystery was starting to unravel. She had tears in her eyes as she had no idea my daughter existed. She was also overjoyed to know she had another sister. I could not help but be joyful, yet my heart sank when I found that the older sister had spent the first part of her life in an institution.

Stacey is the adoptive parent of a Russian born child. She successfully completed a birthmother search and has been kind enough to share this information with us at Adoption Under One Roof.

Part 2: Where do I go to conduct a search?

I reached out to the Russian Sibling Search Group in 2008. It took six months for information to be gathered for our search group and to send the searcher into Siberia. I was a little nervous, as I did not know if the birth-mother was going to answer our letter. I had some nagging questions. Is she married? Does she have a new family? Will she acknowledge my daughter? As these questions persisted, I found myself feeling a lot of love for her and I just could not muster up any judgments of her. After all, she is the woman that gave life to the most precious gift I could have ever received.

Stacey is the adoptive parent of a Russian born child. She successfully completed a birthmother search and has been kind enough to share this information with us at Adoption Under One Roof.

Preface - I have used vague terms and not revealed the folks in Russia that assisted with information. This is a delicate matter and should not be taken lightly for those that wish to search and those that are willing to provide information. Many have criticized Russian adoption for many things, but for me, the Russians that were involved have the best interest of the children at heart. I have received nothing but warmth during the adoption process and my search.

Part 1: To Search or not to Search?

From the moment I found out about my daughter and then met her in Russia I wondered about her history. When I met my daughter she was 8 months old. She ws frail, pale and weak from respiratory illnesses, and judging from her personality was in this condition due to a lack of affection. She weighed 9 pounds at 8 months old. She looked like a little doll and I had no idea she was so under-weight as I was blinded by love. At the conclusion of our first visit, I whispered in her ear, "I love you and I will be back to take you home."