Shelli Renee Muldoon

Volga's Daughters Shelli Renee Muldoon

In 1934, German-Russian immigrant George threatened his daughters with his suicide if one more of his girls became pregnant out of wedlock. Believing her dad would make good on his promise, Esther hid her pregnancy. She sent her baby boy to be absorbed into her sister's family, and his identity was hidden. In 1994, in Yurevets, Russia, located in the upper reaches of the Volga River, baby Valentina was born to a single mother who was struggling with poverty and addiction. Young Valentina was in and out of orphanages and a foster home, and her identity was tossed back and forth. Volga's Daughters is told by one woman with two perspectives of the adoption prism-daughter of an adopted father, and mother of a precious daughter brought home from Russia. Filled with personal background, contemplations, and adoption anecdotes, it is a reminder that our identity is not found in our circumstances, but as sons and daughters of God the Father.