Katya, who is currently 41 years old, was actually an orphan herself when she was a child.  

 

Katya first trained to be a knitter and sewer before she attended University, studying to be a psychologist. 

 

Because Katya and her husband, Valery, had a difficult time getting pregnant, she and her husband decided to foster an orphan, as she was never adopted herself.  She and her husband brought their first foster child into their home when she was 28 years old.  

 

Katya and Valery have such big and special hearts that they currently have nine children! Eight of them live at home, while their oldest one is away at college. Three of them are her biological children and six of them are her foster children!

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Petrova’s Promise began assisting Katya and Valery in the summer of 2021 when they met Artem in an orphanage and brought him to their home as their foster child. Artem was born in 2004 and began living in an orphanage when he was 12 years old, after his mother could no longer take care of him.  When he was 17 years old, he met Katya and got to know her.  He told Katya that he did not want to move into the adult internat (similar to a nursing home here in the US) when he turned 18 years old...instead, he wanted to live with a family.  Katya became so fond of Artem, that she began working on obtaining guardianship of him.  He moved in with her and her family in July of 2021.  Petrova’s Promise assisted Katya in obtaining guardianship of Artem and has since purchased a walker for him.  Artem has Cerebral Palsy and has both physical and cognitive impairments.  He uses his walker to be mobile.  

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Artem is surrounded by eight siblings.  Daniil, who is 20 years old and their first foster child, is currently a student and living on his own.   Dima is another foster son and was born in 2007.  He studies in school, although he is behind a few years due to his special needs.  He has been living with the family for three years.  Ilya is Katya’s biological son who was born in 2009.  He does not have any physical or mental difficulties.  Egor is also her biological son and was born in 2012.  He also does not have any delays.   Alice, who was born in 2012, is their foster child.  She has problems with her development and her teeth.  Olya is their foster daughter who was born in 2014 and has Down syndrome. She has been living with the family for three years. She is quite the performer!  Zhenya was born in 2015 and is Katya’s foster daughter.  She has problems with her development and her speech.  She is Alice’s biological sister!  Sasha is their youngest child and was born in 2016. He is their biological child.  

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The entire family lives in a house in the country in the Vladimir region.  Almost all of the children enjoy going to craft classes working with clay.  Three of the children study dancing.  Alice loves to go to art school.  The boys are fond of making model airplanes, playing baseball and playing tennis.  They are a very busy and loving family!

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09/2022 FAMILY UPDATES: We purchased a laptop for Artem and he is now taking classes online, which he loves! We bought him new leg braces and he is now walking without as much help from his walker. He is doing so well!  Katya took custody of a sweet boy name Sergei in the last year. When he was living in the orphanage, he wasn’t talking. Now that he is with Katya and her family, he is speaking much more!

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