Rescuing Julia Twice

Book excerpt: “Traster’s memoir is simultaneously unnerving and inspirational. The adoption world—and everyone surrounding it (meaning everyone)—needs to better understand the realities that affect so many children being adopted from orphanages today.” —Adam Pertman, president, The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and author of Adoption Nation In this starkly honest memoir, award-winning journalist Tina Traster tells her moving Russian-adoption story, from dealing with the bleak landscape and inscrutable adoption handlers in Siberia, to her feelings of ambivalence at being a new mother in her forties, to her growing realization over months then years that something was “not quite right” with her daughter, Julia. Traster describes her despair as she blamed her mothering skills for her daughter’s troublesome behavioral issues, until she came to understand that Julia suffered from reactive attachment disorder, a condition associated with infants and young children who have been neglected, abused, or orphaned. She describes how with commitment and acceptance, she and her husband have closed the gulf between them and their daughter to form a loving bond, and provides practical advice for parents struggling with attachment issues. Tina Traster has contributed to numerous publications including the New York Times, the New York Post, Huffington Post, Family Circle, and many more. She lives in Valley Cottage, New York. Melissa Fay Greene is the author of five books, including There Is No Me Without You and No Biking in the House Without a Helmet. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.