It was a surreal moment for Alex Gilbert when all four of his parents were in one room together for the first time - even more so because it happened on the set of Russia's most popular talk show.
The Whangarei 23-year-old and his adoptive parents, Mark and Janice Gilbert, thought it was a scam when the young man woke to seven missed calls from a Moscow television station saying, "Come to Russia".
"I said to my mum and dad, you're going to thinking this is crazy," Mr Gilbert said. "They said it sounds like a scam. The station was flying us to Russia and going to pay for everything."
![Alex Gilbert with birth father Mihail Kovkov, flanked by parents Janice and Mark Gilbert.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/72DO7YAWW4IAWNETFGJC2KG6GA.jpg?auth=f6244a93fa89b875cef9e4c2184a29577e800eb1b2fa948e605de6d3652aef75&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
But, within a week, the family had had special visas rushed through the Russian Embassy and were on a plane, bound to feature alongside Mr Gilbert's birth parents - who also hadn't seen each other in 20 years - on Russia's Let Them Talk show.