Awaiting a miracle: Teenagers are looking for foster family for

themselves and their child

Antonina Yerofeyeva

Juvenile couple in love living at an orphanage in Smolensk region are expecting a child. They
dream of becoming a real family, but if somebody doesnt adopt them, the newborn will be taken
away to a separate baby orphanage.
Both Polina and Oleg are 15 years of age. They couldve been regular teenagers in love. But in
less than a month they will become parents Polina is in her 8th month of pregnancy. She and
Oleg are orphans, living in a childrens home in the city of Safonovo. They have already been
subjected to many angry remarks. The problem is that the law does not permit the baby to stay
with its parents at the orphanage, and they will have to live separately at least until the mother
turns 16.
Polina
I want to live together with Oleg and the baby, and to have a loving family. And then, when
everything settles, I want to have more children, maybe three, Polina wishes out loud.

Polina does not want to be separated from the beloved. Photo by AIF [Arguments and Facts] / Antonina Yerofeyeva

In fact, Polina doesnt really know what a family is: from early childhood she lived in
orphanages. Her mother was very ill, incapacitated and stripped of the custody rights. Three of
her sisters for various reasons couldnt take her into their families. A glimmer of light for the little
girl was her grandma, who would take her in for the whole summer. But now she has to take
care for a sick relative and doesnt have time for Polina anymore.
She is a calm and open girl, a good student, but she does have problems communicating with
her peers, says Maria Danilova, who is a psychologist at the boarding school. Other
girls somehow dont accept her into their company.

Boarding school in Safonovo. Photo by AIF [Arguments and Facts] / Antonina Yerofeyeva

Polina looks mature for her age and differs from many eighth graders. Maybe because of her
womanly figure her classmates call her fat. The teachers told us that in trying to be accepted
Polina stopped eating and even fainted of hunger a few times.
And when two years ago she befriended Oleg, they became inseparable. Polina follows him like
a tail. Deprived of family love and attention of the classmates, the teenagers dont make it a
secret that they are the most precious people and the purpose of each others lives.
Oleg

Oleg doesnt like to talk about himself. The teachers say he is always on alert a boy who
doesnt trust anybody and is difficult to communicate with. He never put his energies into
studying, and he didn't fit socially with his classmates: the boy was always aloof and the peers
didn't understand him and have not accepted him.

Oleg says that he wants to create a family with Polina. Photo by AIF [Arguments and Facts] / Antonina Yerofeyeva

Oleg lived with his mother, suffered domestic violence, his mother is serving term in prison. He
has an older brother, who is in the army, and can't help financially, he is penniless himself.
How do you feel about Polina? I ask Oleg. And receive his typical answer, with defiance,
which is more in his eyes than in his speech: And what do you think yourself how I feel for her?
We will have a baby, and we want to live as a family. Nothing I can counter.
Fragile union
The pupils of the boarding school can't live as a family on the premises of the orphanage,
explains the director of the boarding school Oleg Leontiy. And we have a major concern,
that Polina might not feel bonding with the child. She doesn't know herself, what parental love
is. We are afraid, that if we separate them now we will not be able to unite them later.

When it became known that Polina was pregnant, one of her aunts agreed to assume custody
over Polina. But the aunts family didnt like Oleg in advance. And Polina decided: be as it may,
but I will not part with Oleg. And she declined to go to the aunts family.

Polina and Olegs baby will be born in early January. Photo by AIF [Arguments and Facts] / Antonina Yerofeyeva

The baby is expected in early January. Polina, most likely, will be able to hold it and maybe feed.
After that the baby will be taken to a baby orphanage. The only way to keep the fragile union of
these three, in essence, children, is to find a foster family for all of them. The teachers say, that
this is an impossible task, and one can only hope for a miracle. Meanwhile, the young couple in
love keep looking to foster parents for themselves and their baby.