[NeedsANap]

I'm certainly not going to excuse the comments, they were simply rude, and as others have said, the parents may not think that way at all, but I can say that some older people I know have had similar thoughts (more tactfully expressed, fortunately) about a cousin adopted from Russia. She is older (8) and they felt that because she was not an infant, she'd never become "American," and surely they wanted her to, right? Well, no, she's Russian, and even if she's an American citizen and her family is now in America, her heritage will still be Russian. Finally, what it came down to, was the fact that for that generation, Russia (or the USSR) was the enemy...communists...the reason they had bomb shelters and "duck and cover"...and they haven't really adjusted their attitudes, it's too ingrained. What proved helpful was just education...that Russia has a rich and beautiful culture.