On Russian TV, Minn. Mom Urges Waiver To Adoption Ban
A Minnesota woman has gone on television in Russia with an emotional appeal for an exception to be made to that nation's year-old ban on adoptions by Americans. She and her husband adopted a boy from Russia in 2008 and refuse to give up long-standing efforts to also adopt their son's biological brother from an orphanage in the city of Kursk. Renee Thomas was featured on TV Dozhd (TV Rain), Russia's top independent station, in an 11-minute segment that aired Thursday, a day before the opening of the Olympics in Sochi. At the close of the segment, she breaks into tears as she explains her family's determination.