Ukrainian nurse welcomes adopted children home
Despite the ongoing violence in Ukraine, Valentyna and her four adopted daughters have found strength in numbers
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Growing up in an orphanage, Katya found herself lying awake every night. Blinking through the darkness, she wondered if she would ever have a mother.
Then one day, at the age of seven, her question was answered by a woman with kind eyes – Valentyna, a nurse, who came to the orphanage and adopted Katya.
Today, Katya is 18 years old. She studies at a medical college and lives with Valentyna and three adopted sisters in a town near Odesa, Ukraine. Her two younger sisters were adopted by Valentyna at the beginning of the full-scale war.
“My family has always been the most important part of my life,” says Katya. “But during the war, it gained a new meaning for me. We have all become very close. It would have been very difficult for all of us, especially for the younger sisters, to go through such trials alone.”
“I had dreamed of a large family”
Valentyna took in Katya and her brother from an orphanage in Odesa, and 16-year-old Oleksandra was taken from the streets.
“My own children had grown up,” says Valentyna. “I had my own business, but I also wanted to take care of someone. Since childhood, I had dreamed of a large family. And I thought that children left alone needed care the most.”
So, when Katya and Oleksandra started going to high school at the start of last year, Valentyna went back to the orphanage to adopt Vasylysa and Oleksandra.
“They told me they had a nine-year-old girl waiting to be adopted,” she recalls, smiling. “But it also turned out that this girl had a sister who was a year older. The two girls had different surnames. Of course, I couldn't separate them, so I took them both.”
Valentyna says that the most difficult thing part of the whole process was the adoption procedure. It took her over a year to complete all the necessary documents.
“I think many more parents would adopt children if it was easier to do so,” she says. “Especially now, when there is a war, many children have been orphaned. And I think there are many good people ready to become parents for them.”
“We always have someone to rely on”
The past year has brought many challenges for Valentyna and her family. Together, they survived a rocket attack that destroyed the entire second floor of their home.
“There were many scary moments,” says Valentyna. “Shelling, fear, evacuation to Moldova for one and a half months. Children are always a huge responsibility, and adopted children require even more responsibility. During the war, all of this was multiplied. But there was more love too.”
The family is gradually renovating the second floor on their own. The two younger girls are gradually getting used to their mother and sisters. But the war continues.
“When my mom is at work and the air raid alarm sounds, we all get very worried,” says Katya. “She calls us to remind us to go down to the basement. And we ask if she's safe.”
On the most dangerous days, when the air raid sirens sound frequently, Valentyna's eldest daughter Khrystyna, who already has three of her own daughters, comes to their house. Mutual support helps the family to endure the hardships of war.
“I see how hard it is sometimes for my mother, especially with the younger girls, who are still adapting to the family after several years in an orphanage,” says Katya. “But we always have someone to rely on. We have each other. I think that children are like sunshine rays on a gloomy day".
"When I see news about children left alone because of the war, I dream of only one thing: that they will be adopted, just like we were.”
Every child needs to grow up within a loving and caring environment with people they can trust. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) supports the efforts of the Government of Ukraine to ensure that every child has safe and secure family-based care. In particular, UNICEF is implementing comprehensive projects to improve the care system in pilot regions to further develop a comprehensive approach to reforming the care system, based on international best practices adapted to the Ukrainian context.
