Boy Terrified Adoptive Family

The Russian boy who was sent back home all alone by his adoptive family is getting a lot of sympathy around the world, and many are questioning how the American family could do this to him.

But now the grandmother of that family is speaking out, and saying the boy terrified his adoptive family and it was impossible to keep him. She described violent threats leading up to a threat to burn the house down, making the family afraid and feeling like they were unable to handle him.

This explanation does not satisfy many critics, who say this is simply acting out by a child who has gone through trauma, and they should have sought out help instead of just dumping the boy off like that, which will only add to his trauma and sense of abandonment. There were resources they could have gone to, and even if they finally felt they couldn't take care of the child, there's a process that should have been in place before just putting him on a plane by himself. It's not yet clear what the adoption agency knew about their plans to send the boy back to Russia.

Boy Terrified Adoptive Family
startribune

Torry Hansen was so eager to become a mother that she adopted an older child from a foreign country, two factors that scare off many prospective parents. Her bigger fears came later. Torry's mother, Nancy Hansen, said the 7-year-old's violent episodes -- which culminated in a threat to burn the family's home to the ground -- terrified them into a shocking solution: The boy they renamed Justin was put on a plane by himself and sent back to Russia.

Boy Terrified Adoptive Family