Now Julia lives in the USA and plays sports. Photo: Julia Rabe's personal archive
"Hi, my name is Julia. I live in the USA, in the state of Wisconsin. But in fact, my real name is Yulia Kovaleva, and I was born in 1996 in Russia, in the city of Ulan-Ude. After giving birth, my mother abandoned me. When I was two years old, I was adopted by a couple from America. All my life I dreamed of finding out about my biological mom and dad. Help me find my Russian roots."
A post with this text appeared in April in popular Buryat publics on social networks. Its author is 23-year-old Julia Rabe. She is an athlete, interested in mixed martial arts (MMA). On her personal page on the Internet from beaches, waterfalls. It would seem, why would she, living on the paradise coast, look for someone in Buryatia? In the USA, no one has even heard of this corner of the Russian map. And to see her real mother at least once!
“I am really from Ulan-Ude,” Julia wrote in a reply message to the “KP” - Irkutsk” correspondent, and without mistakes. After all, despite her Russian roots, she does not speak the great and mighty language at all. We had to communicate with her on social networks through a translator. - I was born on February 21, 1996, my mother abandoned me almost immediately. Why? I don’t know the exact reasons. It seems she couldn’t take care of me and drank a lot. And when I was two, I was adopted and taken to America. So I don’t remember my childhood in Russia at all.
But the girl still knows some facts from her Russian biography. After her mother’s refusal, little Yulia was sent to an orphanage. And in 1998, the smiling 2-year-old girl caught the eye of the Reib couple from the USA. They came to Buryatia specifically to take the child into their care. By the way, in the late 90s, there was a real boom in the adoption of Buryat children by Americans in Buryatia. So Yulia did not go overseas alone. The Reib family together with her took another boy from the same orphanage.
- My American family are very good people, they have a big heart, - continues Julia. - In addition to my brother from Buryatia, I also have a sister. Mom is a high school teacher, dad works in a factory. My parents never hid the fact that I was adopted. They told me that I was born in Russia, kept and showed me childhood photos, a birth certificate. I always wanted to know something about my biological mother. At least to see her photo... I only knew that her name was Antonina.
The Reib family kept not only childhood photos of their adopted daughter, but also some other documents. For example, they kept the exact address of Julia's biological mother: Ulan-Ude, Oktyabrskaya Street, Building 18a. That's all that connected the girl with her distant homeland.
- In the spring, I decided to try to find one of my relatives in Buryatia, - says Julia. - And I asked Yuri Adler for help. I learned his story through mutual friends. In the early 2000s, his brother and sister were adopted by a couple from the USA, and Yura remained in Ulan-Ude. And 17 years later, he came to the States and found his relatives.
- The thing is that adopted children from Russia living in the USA communicate with each other, - Yuri Adler explains to us. - Not all of them, of course, but there is a diaspora. So, through mutual friends, I found out that a girl from Buryatia wanted to find her relatives. I contacted her and asked her about everything.
It is worth noting here that Yuri himself left Buryatia for the United States in 2016. He knows very well where to go in his homeland to ask for help. Having received all the possible information from Julia, Yuri published that very post on her behalf in a popular Buryat public page on social networks. The main thing is that he indicated the address where Julia's mother lived.
- That same day, I started getting messages, - continues Yuri Adler. - The man who rented an apartment at this address responded, as did the neighbors. They said that a lonely elderly man is now registered in the apartment where Julia's mother lived.
It turned out to be 80-year-old pensioner Valery, Julia's grandfather. That's how, when strangers appeared on the doorstep, he found out that he had a granddaughter!
- At first he didn’t understand what they were talking about, - says Julia. - When they told him the exact date of birth of his daughter, my mother, his face, as I was told, changed.
Valery had no idea that he had a granddaughter. He had actually "lost" his daughter, Yulia's mother, many years ago... Since her youth, she was always disappearing somewhere, getting involved with dubious companies. Alcohol, drugs... Life went downhill. Yes, the father had heard something about his daughter's pregnancy. But he didn't know that he had a granddaughter! Maybe he thought the child was dead, but you can't ask about this, Valery himself refused to tell his story.
"He's a lonely old man who no longer has a family," explains Julia. "There is another granddaughter, the daughter of my mother's older sister. It turns out that she is my niece, but he doesn't communicate with her often. This makes me very sad. And he does too. It seemed to me that he wanted to meet me, but he couldn't. All he told me about my parents was that they drank a lot, used drugs and got into trouble. My father, it seems, also died. And that's all I managed to find out.
It is not known where Julia would be now, if she had stayed in the orphanage with Yulia Kovaleva. But now everything is fine in her life. She works with difficult children from disadvantaged families. The girl leads a healthy lifestyle, and has been seriously involved in mixed martial arts (MMA) for two years now. In addition, she has many hobbies.
- I love hiking, I love fishing, hunting, and also drawing, - says Julia. - I adore my family, I love spending time with my loved ones and friends. My parents know that I found my grandfather, and they are happy for me.
And when asked if she would like to come to Ulan-Ude to visit her grandfather, Julia answers:
- If I had the opportunity, I would go right now. I would even go on foot! - answers Julia. - I really want to see my grandfather and niece, but I need money for the trip. I will think about how to get to Russia and my native Buryatia faster.
"Hi, my name is Julia. I live in the USA, in the state of Wisconsin. But in fact, my real name is Yulia Kovaleva, and I was born in 1996 in Russia, in the city of Ulan-Ude. After giving birth, my mother abandoned me. When I was two years old, I was adopted by a couple from America. All my life I dreamed of finding out about my biological mom and dad. Help me find my Russian roots."
A post with this text appeared in April in popular Buryat publics on social networks. Its author is 23-year-old Julia Rabe. She is an athlete, interested in mixed martial arts (MMA). On her personal page on the Internet from beaches, waterfalls. It would seem, why would she, living on the paradise coast, look for someone in Buryatia? In the USA, no one has even heard of this corner of the Russian map. And to see her real mother at least once!
“I am really from Ulan-Ude,” Julia wrote in a reply message to the “KP” - Irkutsk” correspondent, and without mistakes. After all, despite her Russian roots, she does not speak the great and mighty language at all. We had to communicate with her on social networks through a translator. - I was born on February 21, 1996, my mother abandoned me almost immediately. Why? I don’t know the exact reasons. It seems she couldn’t take care of me and drank a lot. And when I was two, I was adopted and taken to America. So I don’t remember my childhood in Russia at all.
But the girl still knows some facts from her Russian biography. After her mother’s refusal, little Yulia was sent to an orphanage. And in 1998, the smiling 2-year-old girl caught the eye of the Reib couple from the USA. They came to Buryatia specifically to take the child into their care. By the way, in the late 90s, there was a real boom in the adoption of Buryat children by Americans in Buryatia. So Yulia did not go overseas alone. The Reib family together with her took another boy from the same orphanage.
- My American family are very good people, they have a big heart, - continues Julia. - In addition to my brother from Buryatia, I also have a sister. Mom is a high school teacher, dad works in a factory. My parents never hid the fact that I was adopted. They told me that I was born in Russia, kept and showed me childhood photos, a birth certificate. I always wanted to know something about my biological mother. At least to see her photo... I only knew that her name was Antonina.
The Reib family kept not only childhood photos of their adopted daughter, but also some other documents. For example, they kept the exact address of Julia's biological mother: Ulan-Ude, Oktyabrskaya Street, Building 18a. That's all that connected the girl with her distant homeland.
- In the spring, I decided to try to find one of my relatives in Buryatia, - says Julia. - And I asked Yuri Adler for help. I learned his story through mutual friends. In the early 2000s, his brother and sister were adopted by a couple from the USA, and Yura remained in Ulan-Ude. And 17 years later, he came to the States and found his relatives.
- The thing is that adopted children from Russia living in the USA communicate with each other, - Yuri Adler explains to us. - Not all of them, of course, but there is a diaspora. So, through mutual friends, I found out that a girl from Buryatia wanted to find her relatives. I contacted her and asked her about everything.
It is worth noting here that Yuri himself left Buryatia for the United States in 2016. He knows very well where to go in his homeland to ask for help. Having received all the possible information from Julia, Yuri published that very post on her behalf in a popular Buryat public page on social networks. The main thing is that he indicated the address where Julia's mother lived.
- That same day, I started getting messages, - continues Yuri Adler. - The man who rented an apartment at this address responded, as did the neighbors. They said that a lonely elderly man is now registered in the apartment where Julia's mother lived.
It turned out to be 80-year-old pensioner Valery, Julia's grandfather. That's how, when strangers appeared on the doorstep, he found out that he had a granddaughter!
- At first he didn’t understand what they were talking about, - says Julia. - When they told him the exact date of birth of his daughter, my mother, his face, as I was told, changed.
Valery had no idea that he had a granddaughter. He had actually "lost" his daughter, Yulia's mother, many years ago... Since her youth, she was always disappearing somewhere, getting involved with dubious companies. Alcohol, drugs... Life went downhill. Yes, the father had heard something about his daughter's pregnancy. But he didn't know that he had a granddaughter! Maybe he thought the child was dead, but you can't ask about this, Valery himself refused to tell his story.
"He's a lonely old man who no longer has a family," explains Julia. "There is another granddaughter, the daughter of my mother's older sister. It turns out that she is my niece, but he doesn't communicate with her often. This makes me very sad. And he does too. It seemed to me that he wanted to meet me, but he couldn't. All he told me about my parents was that they drank a lot, used drugs and got into trouble. My father, it seems, also died. And that's all I managed to find out.
It is not known where Julia would be now, if she had stayed in the orphanage with Yulia Kovaleva. But now everything is fine in her life. She works with difficult children from disadvantaged families. The girl leads a healthy lifestyle, and has been seriously involved in mixed martial arts (MMA) for two years now. In addition, she has many hobbies.
- I love hiking, I love fishing, hunting, and also drawing, - says Julia. - I adore my family, I love spending time with my loved ones and friends. My parents know that I found my grandfather, and they are happy for me.
And when asked if she would like to come to Ulan-Ude to visit her grandfather, Julia answers:
- If I had the opportunity, I would go right now. I would even go on foot! - answers Julia. - I really want to see my grandfather and niece, but I need money for the trip. I will think about how to get to Russia and my native Buryatia faster.
