Alex Gilbert
Sasha Alexander "Alex" Gilbert is a Russian-born, New Zealand-based adoption advocate. He is the founder of the project I'm Adopted which he established in 2015.
Gilbert, whose original name is Gusovskoi Alexander Viktorovich was born in Arkhangelsk and was placed in the local orphanage for the first two years of his life until he was adopted by his New Zealand parents in 1994. In 2013 he started searching for his Russian birth parents, with whom he had no connection. He found his birth mother and then his biological father, who did not know about Gilbert's existence until Gilbert contacted him in 2013. The story of his search for his birth parents first aired on New Zealand television in 2014.
In 2015 Gilbert created the project I'm Adopted to help people find their birth parents, and for families to search for their lost connections.
Gilbert has made several appearances on television shows and documentaries about international adoption. He has also written two books, My Russian Side in 2014 and his autobiography I'm Adopted which was independently released in 2018. Gilbert has also helped his old orphanage in Arkhangelsk, Russia with his own initiative by personally handing over a box of gifts for the children in late November, 2018. Besides advocacy, Gilbert has worked in media and television.
Early life
Alex Gilbert was born Gusovskoi Alexander Viktorovich on 1 April 1992 in Arkhangelsk, Russia. Gilbert's mother placed him in a Russian orphanage in Arkhangelsk after he was born. His biological father Mihail did not know of Gilbert's existence until 2013 after hearing through a series of online messages that Gilbert was searching for him. Gilbert's father's name on his birth certificate and adoption papers was falsified.In 1994, Gilbert and his brother Andrei were adopted by a New Zealand couple. His name was legally changed to Sasha Alexander Gilbert in 1994. He grew up in Whangarei, New Zealand, and lived there until he was 18 years. He moved to Auckland at the beginning of 2011 to study and work in television.
Career
2013–2014: ''My Russian Side''
After an unsuccessful attempt in 2009, Gilbert recommenced for his birth parents in 2013. He used Russian social networking websites and eventually located them. In November 2013, Gilbert travelled to Russia to meet them for the first time. This trip and his meetings with his birth parents was filmed for New Zealand's TV One's Sunday current affairs program, and was broadcast in 2014. He wrote and released his autobiographical book My Russian Side in 2014 along with an autobiographical documentary film.2015–present: I'm Adopted project
In July 2015 Gilbert established the I'm Adopted project to allow other adopted people to share their stories. The project is a platform that helps adoptees around the world to share their personal experiences with adoption through social media. The project also works to bring adoptees together through meet ups and events. The project is currently available in English, Russian and Spanish with the help of contributors and translators worldwide.At the end of 2015, Gilbert appeared on Russian 1TV television station's Let them Talk programme highlighting the project and his adoptive New Zealand parents meeting his Russian biological parents for the first time. it has shared over 300 written or videotaped stories from adoptees around the world. Gilbert also helps organise support groups and meet ups with the I'm Adopted project for adopted people. The project was registered as a New Zealand charitable trust at the beginning of 2017. In February 2017, Gilbert was a key speaker at an event at the New Zealand Parliament to help raise awareness for I'm Adopted and its projects.
In October 2017 Gilbert went to Russia to revisit his orphanage in Arkhangelsk. This was the first time Gilbert revisited the orphanage since he left in 1994. Gilbert also talked with adopted teenagers and parents in Moscow for a charity that focuses on adoption called Арифметика добра. Gilbert also met Anna Kuznetsova, Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation for the first time, which was also headquartered in Moscow. Gilbert met her again in November 2019.
Gilbert shared a video on his experience of him meeting his birth father for the first time on the social news website Reddit in November 2017. Since it was posted, the video reached over 250,000 views within three days and was also posted on the LADbible Facebook page which gained over 1.4 million views overnight. In January 2018, Gilbert appeared in a Russian documentary The Man from Nowhere «Человек из ниоткуда» which was directed by Katerina Gordeeva. In July 2018, Gilbert spoke via video at the ICAR6 conference in Montreal, Canada as well as hosting the first I'm Adopted overseas meet up in Galway, Ireland, on 1 August 2018.
In June 2019, Gilbert established the first podcast based on the I'm Adopted project along with announcing his upcoming television show Reunited.
, The Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation. Moscow, Russia November 2019
2018: ''I'm Adopted'' book and orphanage supplies initiative
In early 2018, Gilbert released his second book and autobiography I'm Adopted independently. A full-length interview that was based on the book was released in late June with Meg Andrews. Gilbert started an initiative collecting supplies for his orphanage in Arkhangelsk, Russia in October 2018.In January 2019, the Russian version of his autobiography titled «Я – приёмный сын» in English, was released with a physical limited release with support of the Timchenko Foundation in Moscow, Russia. The book is published by :ru:Альпина_Паблишер|Alpina Books, Russia.
2019-present: ''Reunited''
In September 2019, TVNZ announced that Gilbert will be hosting his own television series, Reunited that is due for release in 2020. The show focuses on his work with I'm Adopted and the help with adopted people finding their families. In November 2019, Gilbert again met with Anna Kuznetsova, The Children's Rights Commissioner for the President of the Russian Federation again in Moscow, Russia to talk about the development of the television series as well as opening up access to more records for adopted children from Russia.Personal life
Family
Gilbert is of East Europe, Russian, Baltic and Western Asia ancestry as well as a small percentage of Scandinavian and Central Asia.Achievements
In 2018, Gilbert was nominated for Young New Zealander of the Year, as part of the 2019 New Zealander of the Year Awards. He also received a certificate of achievement from the Ministry of Health of the Arkhangelsk region in Russia for his orphanage initiative in November, 2018.Books
- My Russian Side
- I'm Adopted
Filmography
| Year | Title | Title in Russian | Notes |
| 2014 | Sunday | ||
| 2014 | My Russian Side | Documentary film | |
| 2015 | Anatomy of the Day | «Анатомия дня» | |
| 2015 | Let Them Talk | «Пусть говорят» | Season 15, Episode 68 |
| 2015 | Sunday | ||
| 2016 | Breakfast | ||
| 2017 | TV Rain | TV Special about adoption | |
| 2018 | The Man from Nowhere | «Человек из ниоткуда» | Russian documentary, Directed by Katerina Gordeeva |
| 2018 | I'm Adopted - The Interview w/ Meg Andrews | «История моего усыновления Интервью с Мэг Эндрюс» | |
| 2018 | Live on Air | «Прямой эфир» | |
| 2019 | Seven Sharp | ||
| TBA | Reunited | TVNZ Series |