CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Married 11 years, a Carmichael couple yearned for a baby. Svitlana and Dimitry Kovalev recently realized that dream – five times over.

Dimitry (46) is a welder who immigrated from Georgia 25 years ago. Ukraine-born Svitlana teaches at Wonder Land, a Christian school run by the American River Community Church.  The 37-year-old also directs ARCC’s ministry for children. “Ever since I was a baby sitter at 13, children always made me happy,” she says. “At work, I was around kids every day. It made no sense for Dimitry and I not to have our own child.” In 2016, the couple began a foster-to-adopt process with Sacramento County.

In four years, they gave their hearts to six separate children but adoption never eventuated. “We had our hearts broken over and over,” explains the foster mom. “Each time, we believed the child would be ours forever -- but a relative would come forward to take responsibility – or a parent was given another chance. We were devasted; we’d loved each child so much. Each time, it felt like our own baby was being taken from us. We had to accept it was not what God wanted for us.”

In October 2018, still aspiring to be a mom, Svitlana again called Sacramento County. A social worker explained that no single child was available, but five siblings needed a home.  “I said: my gosh, let me talk to my husband,” says Svitlana.  “We wondered if five kids would fit in our small house.” Aged from four months to seven years, the children had been found in the vehicle of homeless, drug-user parents. They were temporarily separated into two foster homes, pending placement as a family. After social workers decided the Kovalev’s three-bedroom home was adequate, Dimitry and Svitlana met the siblings. “They were beautiful and friendly,” says Dimitry. “But we could see they needed security and love. That day, we said yes to them. We were instantly a family.”

Recalls Svitlana: “We weren’t sure what the children would call us. But as we drove them home, the oldest (Arianna) said: ‘I’m hungry, Mommy.’ I had goosebumps. That magic word told me she already trusted me to care for her. It was beautiful to my ears.” The children’s previous life has nevertheless left insecurities.  “When Arianna and Kevin ate, they immediately needed to know what their next meal would be,” explains their mom. “Food was a big concern. It took time for them to understand they’d always be fed. When I first left them at school, they were terrified I wouldn’t come back for them.”

The older kids were also behind-norm in hygiene and social habits. While the youngest siblings seem mercifully unscarred by memories, therapy is helping the eldest two. “We’ve had a lot to catch up in the last two years,” explains Svitlana. “We try to fill their brains with positive things. After we took them to Oregon to meet my relatives, Arianna came home boasting about the size of her new family. She couldn’t believe she had so many cousins who loved her.”

The children’s kindergarten and elementary tuition is sponsored by their church, where parishioners are always available to babysit. When family provisions ran low during the pandemic, the congregation volunteered supplies. The Kovalevs are on the lookout for a bigger abode (a second bathroom is high on mom’s wish-list) but for now, their kids have learned to help with home chores. They are all natural athletes and two of the sisters are learning the piano. After two years with bi-lingual parents, even toddlers Pollianna (2) and Anastasia (3) chatter in English and Russian. “They’re smart and they learn fast,” says their father. “We believe having two languages will help them when they’re older.”

With final adoption court processes complete, the greatly-enlarged Kovalev brood became an official family this fall. “God and the prayers of the American River Community Church were always with us,” attests Svitlana. “So we never lost faith; we never gave up.  We thought of the children as ours from the day we brought them home. But for two years, we’ve lived with the worry that they might be taken from us. At last, we can make plans for their futures. We can consider vacations, travel and college educations. When they grow up, if they want to meet their biological parents, we’ll help them. But for now, we can relax and just be a family.”

Retired ARCC Pastor Rich Reimer last Sunday officiated at a COVID-size gathering to bless the children’s adoption, and dedicate their lives to Jesus. “We’re so grateful,” says Svitlana. “Dimitri and I needed a family. These children needed a home. We know it was God’s plan for us all to have what we needed.”