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Former Russian Orphans Now All-American Girls

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST NEWS

Mom and dad, Dan and Renae Casson, pose for a family portrait with Natasha, now 19, Yulia, 13; Anna, 15, and family dogs Muffey and Paris. Tatiana, the other member of the family, is now in Arizona studying cosmetology. Renae and Dan adopted the girls in Russian in 1998 and 1999.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: October 20, 2007

Almost 10 years later, the feelings of gratitude, love and wonder, all jumbled together, are still alive. Renae Casson becomes tearful when remembering her first full day with her daughter Yulia.

The two were together at a Siberian orphanage where they would stay, along with Renae's husband Dan, then 50, for two weeks in 1998 to get to know their newly adopted daughter, 5-year-old Yulia.

"It was wonderful," says Renae, who was 51 at the time.

But getting there had been another matter. The Cassons had made a 28-hour trip in an unheated railway car, aboard the "Siberian Express," to Siberia in the middle of an unforgiving Russian winter.

Dan had $20,000 for adoption fees and travel expenses hidden under his clothes. The money was all in crisp, new $100 bills, the only money the Russians would accept. If a bill had a mere wrinkle, it would be rejected.

The money had come at just the right time in Dan's career as a financial advisor. It was one of the many signs that convinced the Tarpon Springs couple a higher power was looking out for them in this mission of love.

First of four

Yulia was the first of four Russian girls the Cassons adopted in 1998 and 1999. Yulia came from an orphanage in Siberia. Natasha, Tatiana and Anna, who were sisters, were in orphanages around Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia near the Black Sea.

To get all the children, the Cassons had to make two trips to Russia, brave a Siberian winter and endure white-knuckle flights on Aeroflot and Kuban airlines. They remember the Krasnodar-based Kuban as an airline with planes with no heat and many seats without backs.

The second trip was near Chechnya, which was in the middle of a war with Russia. The Cassons had heard tales of beheadings of Americans who happened to get in the way of the Chechen-Russian fighting.

They could not postpone their trip because the opportunity to adopt was open for only another month.

After praying, love won out over fear. The couple safely made the trip.

Once out of Russia, the melodrama gave way to a tale of the four Russian children's smooth assimilation into American life to form a closely knit American family.

Second family a dream

Having a second family was an old dream of Renae's. Both she and Dan have grown children from previous marriages.

When they were dating one of the first things she asked Dan was if he would consider adopting.

Dan said yes.

After discovering American adoptions were lengthy, they decided to go abroad for their children. They settled on Russia because it was a good fit with Renae's Norwegian heritage.

They went through Teddy Bear Adoption Agency in Jacksonville.

Does Yulia remember the first days with her parents?

"Oh, yeah," she says in her American-accented voice, pushing shiny long hair over her shoulder. "I remember the first time. They all thought I would run to my mom because all my teachers were women. But I ran to my dad."

Afraid of fur hat

The couple later learned Yulia was afraid of the Russian fur hat Renae was wearing.

The youngest of the girls, Yulia is now 13 and in the eighth grade at Seven Springs Middle School, in southwestern Pasco County.

Her favorite pastimes are typically American: "playing basketball and hanging out with my friends."

For her part, Renae has a flood of memories: Yulia's first words, "Thank you, Mama," in Russian when given her first doll and the little girl's tears the first time Renae held her in her arms rocking her.

The tears seemed to wash away a past in which the child had rarely been touched, let alone cuddled.

Together at last

"She felt a love for me, and I felt a love for her," Renae remembers. "And we were together at last."

The Cassons were unable to adopt Natasha, Tatiana and Anna until the following year. Renae recalls how all the three girls ran to their new parents and hugged them, in a move orchestrated by the orphanage.

But, when it was time to leave, the looks on the girls' faces reflected reservation about their new life.

"Anna was crying like she didn't want to go. Tatiana seemed like she really didn't want to go. Natasha at least was smiling at me," Renae remembers.

The Cassons later learned the girls were afraid of them. Their fear increased when Renae tried to give Anna a bath at their hotel.

They would later discover Anna had never seen a bathtub. At the orphanage, the children bathed under a hose.

Crying out of fear

Upon hearing Anna's terrified screams from the bathroom, Natasha and Tatiana became convinced Renae was killing the little girl. They, too, began to cry.

In the bathroom, instinctively, Renae began flapping her hands splashing water. Anna quickly caught on to the game. She, too, began splashing. She soon was laughing,

The Cassons later had to request 20 towels from the hotel to mop up all the water from the bathroom floor, but it didn't matter.

Anna had begun to trust them.

The girls were all members of one family, but had been in separate orphanages.

"Joy" is the word Renae associates with those early years with four adopted little Russian girls.

What does she remember most?

Loved Disney store

"Just being with them," she says. "I would take them to the mall, and they would go into the Disney store. I used to love that."

The memories come rushing out: teaching Yulia to read, birthday parties around the swimming pool, trips to the beach.

Clothes were a treat for the children. Anna still has a tiny T-shirt her father bought her.

For his part, his extended family allowed Dan to see the world anew.

His Russian-born girls viewed American life with wide eyes of wonder. "They experienced it instantly," he remembers. "You saw the impact of Christmas, of birthdays."

It was a time of "watching the girls absorbing, and grabbing, and it becoming a part of them."

Recalls the squeals

He smiles, recalling how Yulia would squeal at each new experience.

The Cassons attempted to keep the girls in touch with their Russian heritage by attending a Russian cultural group in St. Petersburg, but eventually gave up when their daughters showed no interest.

The girls attended ESOL classes at Sunset Elementary School, in Tarpon Springs, and quickly learned the language.

In 2004, Dan's company transferred him to Arizona, where Anna and Natasha got parts in an elaborate school production of the musical "Grease."

The family returned to the Suncoast in 2006.

Studying cosmetology

Tatiana, now 18, stayed in Arizona to attend cosmetology school. She will return to live with her family when she gets her license.

Anna, 15, is a freshman at J.W. Mitchell High School, in the Trinity area.

After graduating from Mitchell last year, Natasha, 19, is working at Secure Estate Management Insurance Services, in Port Richey, where Don is division manager. She wants to earn a little spending money before determining her next step.

Tonight, the family is gathered in the family room of their Trinity home with Renae's father, Dr. Robert Johnson, and sister, Anne Glidden.

Dogs Paris and Muffey get frequent cuddles.

In an easy give-and-take among parents and children, there appears to be none of the undercurrent of tension often present in families.

Retreat to bedrooms

The girls alternately join in the adult conversation, then retreat to their nearby bedrooms, where they often pile on one another's beds, softly talking and laughing.

Tonight, much of the conversation centers on gentle teasing of Natasha about her new boyfriend.

They remember a few Russian words, they say, and the cold of the Russian winters and fields of sunflowers in the summer, but that part of their life is a long way off.

They are Cassons now.

The girls are all active in the family's church, Cavalry Chapel Worship Center, in New Port Richey.

Additionally, they attend a youth group at the First Methodist Church in Tarpon Springs on Wednesday evenings.

Book on adoption

Renae's next project is to write a book about adoption. She already has the title: "My Adoption High."

Adoptions have gotten bad press, she says. She wants the world to know about an adoption of love in which four little girls from another land have given much to their parents and one another.

Renae is available to give talks on the positive aspects of adoption. Her telephone number is 727-372-0306.

Editor's note: This is a follow-up to a feature story on the Cassons in The Suncoast News in January 2002.

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