The Story of How Paralympian Jessica Long Met Her Biological Parents Is Both Tragic & Uplifting

Her biological mother, Natalia

Jessica Long’s biological mother is Natalia Valtysheva, who was 16 at the time she fell pregnant. She told the Siberian Times (per the Daily Mail) in 20213 that, “my little girl was born pre-term and I was told that she would be an invalid for life and that she would be unable to walk.”

The decision to give up her baby, whom the couple named Tanya, plagued Natalia. “What a worthless thing am I? I kept thinking of her all the time… but then I learned that Tanya was adopted by an American couple.”

Her adoptive mother, Beth

Jessica Long’s adoptive mother Beth said they fell in love with the infant the moment they saw her. “Her life, it won’t be easy,” the adoption agency warned, to which Beth replied, “It might not be easy, but it’ll be amazing,” according to a commercial for Toyota pegged to the Tokyo Olympics which told Jessica Long’s story. “It took us a lot of time to sort out all the paperwork for adoption… We turned to many professionals in order to solve this problem. We really wanted to help her as much as possible,” Beth recalled.

Her adoptive father, Steve

Jessica Long’s adoptive father is Steve Long. It was his idea to adopt—he traveled to Russia to pick up Long and her brother, Joshua, from the same orphanage.