A few weeks ago, a filmmaker for Radio Free Europe spent the day with my family at our home in upstate New York documenting our "ordinary" moments. Olga Loginova, the filmmaker, wanted to show the world there are "successful Russian adoptions."

In 2005, my wife, Amy, and I adopted three children from Russia. As we were wrapping up those adoptions, we saw a document indicating that our new daughters had older siblings. It took us another year and a half to locate them, but they are now part of our family of eleven, too.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt make it look easy. They adopt kids from all corners of the world and the media broadcasts images of perfect Kodak moments. They'd have you believing families bond and blend instantaneously. They don't. Not always.