Olympic gymnastics champion Liliya Podkopayeva has spoken candidly for the first time about the moment her son Vadim found out he was adopted. He was only three years old, and it all happened by chance — during a trip with his grandmother. As they drove past an orphanage, the child asked, “Did you find me there?” This question struck Podkopayeva to the core.
Liliya admitted that at that moment she was not ready for a serious conversation with her son, but later she learned that it was her mother who told the boy the truth. The athlete is not angry - on the contrary, she is grateful that this difficult stage passed naturally. In their family, adoption was not a secret.
Podkopayeva emphasized that it doesn't matter to her who gave birth to the child. The main thing is the love, care and warmth that the child receives every day. Vadim grew up in acceptance and support, without feeling "different". He never tried to find his biological parents, who voluntarily gave him up and didn't even appear in court.
Today, Vadym studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the same campus where the Ukrainian team lived during the 1996 Olympics, when Liliya achieved her historic triumph. For her, it became a touching “flashback,” a gift from her son, and a symbol of how strangely the paths of fate intertwine.
Despite the pain that the child once experienced, Liliya is convinced that everything happened right. Her family is a choice of love, not blood. She speaks proudly about her son and believes that their story can inspire other parents who take in children from orphanages.
