A couple of years ago, when I became a foster mother, I did not believe that so many babies would pass through my home. I raised three sons and I did not think that at that age I would still be taking care of children. During the time that more than 5 toddlers passed through my home, I learned there were no strangers’ kids. We do not take care of other people’s children. At one point they became a huge part of our life and it is hard to get through the separation.

The first baby that we looked after was called Andjelika. Now she has a new name and a new family. She was adopted and she lives more than 300 kilometers from us. I cannot keep in touch with them, because adoption is Bulgaria is a secret process, but I think of her and her story constantly. She has the opportunity to become a ballerina and to make the life of others more beautiful.

After that, many other children came to my house. On one of the walls in the nursery room I put the pictures of the boys and on another the pictures of the girls, so that we will always remember them. The sleepless nights and the hard moments when we used to take care of more than one child at a time made us real professionals at foster parenting. When they leave our home we feel really sad, but it is for the best.

The story that will always stay in my heart is Mladen’s story

One day social services called us. They told us to go and pick up a baby who was left by his mother. When I looked into his eyes I realized that this would be another child whom I will give a part of my heart and whom I will fall in love with. This is exactly what happened. His colic was inconceivable. This was a great test for our household.

However, after a month they told us that Mladen’s father acknowledged him formally. And that is how the day came when Mladen went back to his mother. During a visit to her home, the social workers found out that she and the man she used to live with bought everything that the child needed – a bed, diapers, clothes and milk. Not a long time passed before the child was found in another village with the father who acknowledged him. Then the doubts that the child had been sold to a family that could not have children were born.

They called me in the middle of the night to go and get Mladen. I was so scared and disappointed by everything that had happened to him. Since that time, Mladen has been surrounded by a lot of love and attention. Sometimes I worry about his future but until a solution for him is found he will stay with us, in our home, he will be surrounded by love and he will always be protected. We passed the great challenges of infancy and now we are learning the alphabet and preparing to be grown up. Actually, we are already grown up, at least when it comes to mischief.