There are people who think all adoption stories are horrible and sad. Elena and Lara Hall are grateful that theirs is one blessed with extreme happiness.
At the ages of 18 months and one year, Elena and Lara Hall left the orphan wing of a hospital in Russia behind. Their adoptive parents contacted an adoption agency through what would become the family’s church, legally adopted Elena in the United States, flew to Russia to get her, and repeated the process for Lara. Although babies when adopted, everything changed. Their new country, new language, new culture, and values became their own. Neither girl has any memory of their life prior to being adopted.
Elena and Lara’s relationship with their adoptive parents is and has always been filled with compassion and support…so much so that Lara currently lives at home again as she transitions out of college. And, even though Elena isn’t living with her parents post-college, her home is only twenty minutes away. Their childhood was one filled with a lot of sports, dance, summer camps—and love—where their parents were highly involved and the girls were always encouraged to do their best.
Both girls graduated high school and then college. Lara excelled in sports, particularly volleyball, and Elena had the opportunity to study the Russian language. While on a mission trip to Russia, Elena was not only able to travel to the birth town of she and her adopted sister, she had the surreal experience of seeing the building where they were both born.