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The Waldman family (Jane Waldman)
LEVITTOWN, NY — When Levittown couple Jane Waldman and Mark Braverman embarked on an international adoption journey 17 years ago, it was full of uncertainty and unknowns. Now, Jane Waldman remembers how far her daughter Elaina has come, from the first day she met her in a Russian orphanage.
"I was worried. I was concerned, it was one of the most difficult things I've done," she told Patch. Russia made sense for the Waldmans, Jane explains. The couple were of Russian descent, and they had some friends who had adopted from the country.
The couple, unable to have biological children of their own, considered domestic and foster adoptions but Waldman says she wouldn't have been able to handle the risks of a non-final adoption, possibly having to give up a child after a period of time. Adoption from Russia was still an option at the time, but a 2013 ban has meant that adoptions like these—60,000 adoptions by Americans over 22 years—are no longer possible.