A Disrupted Adoptee Tells Her Story…

She now goes by the name Sabrina. The initial couple named her Caralee. She was adopted to Georgia then returned to Russia and then got re-adopted in North Carolina.

“In 1997, Crystal and Jesse spotted a nine-year-old girl who they determined would become their daughter. “She was a beautiful child,” Crystal recalled.

At the same time, the pair chose to adopt three-year-old Joshua through the adoption agency, as reported by CBS’ 48 hours. The initial red flag emerged when Crystal and Jesse received Caralee’s medical documentation, reports the Mirror.

“They did say she was oligophrenic,” Crystal revealed. Oligophrenic is an outdated term used to describe mental health issues.

Nevertheless, the agency reassured the couple it was merely a “developmental delay,” Crystal explained.

“And we were assured that this child was healthy and that in a good home … with the best doctors in America helping her with the developmental issues, that she should be fine.”

That July, Crystal and Jesse travelled to the orphanage in the modest town of Borovichi. Crystal recalled meeting Caralee: “She looked in my eyes very warmly, ‘You’re my mama.'”

Following the finalised adoption, Crystal began experiencing worries regarding Caralee’s conduct. “We did see the anger, but it could be explained,” Crystal noted.”

“Following their relocation to a new home in Georgia, Caralee reportedly became increasingly withdrawn and hostile, prompting Crystal to leave her employment in an attempt to address the worsening situation at home.

On Boxing Day 1998, Crystal alleged that Caralee’s rage reached breaking point. Whilst Caralee and her adopted brother Joshua were playing in the garden, Crystal reported hearing her four-year-old son’s screams.

She claimed she discovered Caralee dangling Joshua over the edge of the 30-foot-high deck’s railing.”

“Caralee also told her parents about experiencing auditory hallucinations and voices – claims which adult Caralee, now known as Sabrina, has subsequently confirmed.

Consequently, the couple had Caralee admitted to a psychiatric facility where she remained for several months.”

“After Caralee’s four months in hospital, Crystal and Jesse were forced to discharge her as their insurance coverage began to run out.

Jesse revealed they believed she posed a threat to Joshua. He said: “She has repeated this for months on multiple occasions, ‘if I get another chance, I will kill him.””

Jesse fitted security cameras around the property and installed an alarm system on Caralee’s bedroom door.

The powerful medications Caralee had been given were reportedly proving ineffective, and Crystal and Jesse remained concerned for Joshua’s safety, prompting them to relocate him to his grandmother’s residence in Texas.

“Why do we have to send him to grandma’s house to keep him safe?” Crystal questioned Caralee. “Because I may hurt him,” Caralee responded.

Dr Brian Kennedy, a psychiatrist who treated Caralee, diagnosed her with attachment disorder. “She does love to smile and laugh,” Dr. Kennedy observed.

“But I think when you look at what she’s been through and when you see how she functions under stress, she can become very different and have significant rage.””

“Another psychiatrist held a different view, saying “Caralee’s behavior … was impeccable,” whilst viewing Jesse and Crystal as “too often cool and distant” towards their daughter.

Come 1999, Crystal and Jesse made the decision to return her to the orphanage. “We cannot continue to be her parents,” Jesse declared.

Caralee was sent back to Russia for treatment at a psychiatric facility.

Yet, prior to her admission, Caralee insisted: “I did not try to kill my brother,. I just tried … to pick him up … because he was too heavy … I love him. Mom and Daddy just don’t understand it.”

Speaking from a secure ward within the hospital, Caralee said: “I don’t feel safe here. I want to go back to America. I’m scared of staying here.”

Jesse and Crystal had the adoption annulled in early 2000.

Two decades on, now known as Sabrina, the new mum shared her version of events. She explained feeling that Joshua received preferential treatment whilst she battled depression and suicidal thoughts.

She then fabricated a tale: “I told Crystal, ‘You know, I’m seeing and hearing things,'” Sabrina revealed. “‘Cause I wanted out.”

abrina denied trying to hurt Joshua saying she was merely finding it difficult to carry him downstairs – something she tried to tellCrystal. “And she was like, ‘No. You were trying to kill him.’ And she kept saying it.” Sabrina said: “I finally said ‘yes.'”.

Sabrina remembered discovering she was being returned to Russia: “Crystal said they were running out of options. And they think the Russian institute will be better.I felt like I was in jail, but then I think of it – I put myself there. All those lying and doing what they want me to do. I put myself there.”

She remained in hospital for two months until Nina Kostina – the woman who had arranged her adoption – returned her to the United States.

In 2002, Sabrina was taken in by a new family in North Carolina – where she completed her High School education. By 2008, Sabrina had volunteered with the charity Mercy Ships, dedicating two years to delivering medical assistance to disadvantaged communities across Africa.

“It was a rewarding experience,” she said.

By 2010 she had secured employment at a hospital, and in 2012 she met fifth grade teacher Phil Caldwell at church. She said: “I fell in love with him when I saw him interact with kids.”

The couple wed in 2014 and went on to welcome three daughters and one son. Sabrina Caldwell maintains she takes no medication and experiences no mental health difficulties.

Poignantly, Sabrina recalled Crystal and Jesse from her childhood. She said: ” I still have a high respect for them. Putting myself in their shoes, I would have probably done almost the same thing.”

Nevertheless, there remains one action Sabrina would never take. She said: “I wouldn’t … take a child back. I learned to forgive my past,” she explained.”

“”I have an amazing husband … I have amazing kids. But if I didn’t go through what I went through I wouldn’t have that.””

Couple adopted ‘perfect’ daughter but then sent her back to Russian orphanage

[Irish Mirror 2/2/26 by Emilia Randall]

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