It's not so easy to parent these kids. We adopted one in 95, one in 96, and a third in 97 and spent the next 4 years in family counseling. They don't come home trusting you and they have a special way of making you want to hit them at times.
It's a very difficult life before they turn around. And thank God, our two oldest have so far turned around wonderfully. The youngest is still in the midst of making that choice.
But I do understand why some adoptive parents go over the edge with these kids. At least while hitting them. It's much harder to understand starvation.
I had the advantage of being able to speak Russian so most of our experiences went pretty well. Some other host families never seemed to connect to their kids and they spent the whole time in a state of conflict.
After having spent a lot of time with Russian girls, who are certainly going to be gorgeous, my gut impression is that I'm not sure what it will take to satisfy them. I don't mean specifically such as materially or sexually, I mean in life in general. I get the distinct impression that a relationship with some of them would be a temporary proposition at best, and high maintenance. So much for a mail-order PHD supermodel bride ;)
With the boys, they were merely mischevious and naturally wanted all they could get while they were here. I was surprised to find that with both boys and girls that even though they greatly enjoyed their Summers, they didn't want to come and live here. And I have to admit that some facets of their life over there are simpler and better than over here. As long as you have a source of money, you can live well over there. Very well indeed.