ADOPTING ALYOSHA: A Single Man Finds a Son in Russia, by Robert Klose, University Press of Mississippi/Jackson, 1999, 165 pages, hardcover, $22.

Robert Klose knew he was facing a daunting task, but he was determined to become a father. The biology professor at University College of Bangor felt the adoption of a child would complete his family. He owned a house in Orono, was not yet 40-years-old, had a steady job, health insurance, and the support of his parents and siblings. There was only one problem — Klose was single.

Yet, after nearly two and a half years of false hopes and devastating disappointments, Klose adopted 7-year-old Alyosha from Russia in July 1993. “Adopting Alyosha: A Single Man Finds a Son in Russia” is the saga of Klose’s stubborn pursuit of parenthood. To pen the book, the author culled the journal he began in March 1991, when he filled out the agency’s application and wrote the first of many checks. He kept the journal through his first year with Alyosha.

Even though he is a man of science, Klose also is a gifted storyteller. Not only does he take the reader through the piles of paperwork, bureaucratic bumbles and seemingly endless demands for more money that all adoptive parents face, he also takes the reader on the unpredictable emotional roller coaster ride unique to single men and women. It took Klose twice as long to adopt his son as it would have taken a couple.

The first half of the book deals with the time Klose spent working with agencies and individuals in his adoption efforts. Some people were genuinely interested in helping him, some pursued their own agendas rather than his, others took Klose’s money and ran. While stateside, agencies were delighted to work with him, but most other countries were not willing to allow a child to be adopted by a single male, even if he was a middle-class, well-educated American.

Just when Klose felt he had descended into “adoption hell” and would never become a father, he learned of Alyosha. The second half of the book chronicles day by day and blow by blow Klose’s two weeks in Moscow as he waited to see if the adoption would make it through the labyrinth of Russian bureaucrats, as well as the scrutiny of American Embassy employees. Though the days seemed to creep along with little being accomplished, the minutes also appeared to fly by approaching the deadline on Klose’s nonrefundable return airline tickets.

Throughout the book, the suspense is palpable, even though the outcome is known from the beginning. However, it is not a story that can be read easily in one sitting. Klose’s story is just too painful, frustrating and vivid to be devoured in an afternoon.

Klose admitted that the search for a publisher for the book took longer and was almost as difficult as the adoption process. Finally, the University of Mississippi Press, the 58th publisher he submitted his manuscript to since its completion in 1995, accepted the book. “Adopting Alyosha” was published early this year and is selling well locally, according to the author.

“Since the book’s been published, I’ve gotten quite a bit of e-mail from single fathers and men in the adoption process,” said Klose. “The concept of what is a family is being reinterpreted in the United States. However, in other countries, the definition of family is still conservative and traditional.”

Alyosha is in the midst of his 13th year. He, unlike his father, according to Klose, is a gifted athlete. He plays soccer and basketball at his middle school, and, currently, wants to be a math teacher. The teen-ager, who now speaks English like any American boy, also studies Russian with a tutor once a week.

Every summer, father and son travel abroad together. This year, they will explore the coral reefs off Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Klose said he has offered to take his son to visit his homeland, but so far, Alyosha has said he is not ready to return to Russia.

Klose and Alyosha seem to have been destined for each other, and their story will be inspiring for every parent, biological or adoptive, single or partnered. In his epilogue, Klose retells this touching story, a fitting end to his successful journey to parenthood:

“Once, after rolling around with him in the backyard, he straddled my lap and threw me an inquisitive look. `Papa,’ he asked, `where mama?’

Totally unmanned by this question, I tried to gather my thoughts for a reply he would understand. But before I could begin, Alyosha patted me on the cheek, nodding and smiling. `That okay,’ he said. `Papa mama.”‘