When Rain Hurts: An Adoptive Mother’s Journey with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

More than a year after adopting Peter, a three-year-old Russian boy, Greene discovers that her son suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, ADHD, severe post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, seizures, and psychotic episodes. Greene, an environmental lawyer, presents a fully reasoned case history of a grueling process she likens to an “iron triathlon,” alongside the decisions she and her husbandmade before, during, and after the adoption. With vivid language and strong imagery, she describes the harsh deprivations characteristic of Russia’s orphanages, the incompetence of its international adoption agency, and her frustrated need to be a mother. At times, Greene’s candor is unnerving: she admits to resenting the bitter process of breaching the “closely guarded chalice of Peter’s hobbled heart.” Each chapter ends with a journal entry, giving readers real-time views of coping with Peter when he smears blood on walls, rubs feces on himself, or throws away Greene’s cherished jewelry. Peter is eventually sent to a residential treatment center, and some readers may have trouble savoring his small achievements or Greene’s ultimately useless victory over an uncooperative school district. Yet others will find in Peter’s story fertile suggestions for a public support system capable of addressing the complex problems of formerly institutionalized children. (Oct.)