Minnesota Couple Working To Get Son's Brother Adopted From Russia

MINNETRISTA, Minn. (AP) -- A year after Russia imposed a ban on adoptions by Americans, some affected U.S. families are reluctantly looking elsewhere to adopt.

But not Renee and John Thomas of Minnetrista, Minn., who adopted 8-year-old Jack Thomas from Russia in 2008.

At the time the ban was imposed, the family was trying to adopt Jack's biological brother, Nikolai.

Over the past year, the family has lobbied to get that adoption approved because of its exceptional nature; Renee Thomas says it is apparently the only one of the disrupted adoptions involving one sibling in the U.S. and another in Russia.

She's traveling to Russia Wednesday to make the case that Jack and Nikolai, who is now 5, should be reunited under Russian policy of trying to keep siblings together as they grow up.