BRUNSWICK, Maine — Pieces of Ukraine are scattered worldwide, including in coastal Maine.
Gina Stearman, and her husband Nathan, moved to Brunswick in 2018 from Alaska, opening their home to orphans in Ukraine in 2015 after a friend encouraged her to do so.
According to Chinese Children Adoption International, about nine out of ten children in Ukraine's institutions are considered "social orphans," meaning they have one or more parents living who cannot care for them.
"Most children were taken out of their homes because of extreme neglect or physical abuse. Very few come from families in which both parents are deceased," the website reads.
"Many of them are available for adoption. Some aren't. The ones who do not have that family member or nana to go home to are stuck in the orphanage all summer and over Christmas break," Stearman said.
Stearman welcomed orphans Sasha and German into her home during three summers and two winter holiday breaks, waiting for them to be available for adoption.
"That was when our life changed. And it's been all about our kids ever since, really," she said.
Stearman also visited Sasha and German in Ukraine in other months.
"I wanted them to have that consistency like mama's coming for you. It's going to take a while. It takes a long time to get the paperwork. Our dossier was ridiculous," Stearman said.
According to ConsideringAdoption.com, it can take months, even close to a year, to complete the adoption process of a Ukrainian orphan. The U.S. Department of State breaks down all the documents needed to do so.
Over the visits, Sasha and German became part of Stearman's family, including her son and daughter, Gabe and Abigayle.
"They literally grew up in our house," Stearman said.
But then, Sasha told Stearman she did not want to be adopted. Due to their ages, Sasha declining adoption disqualified German's chance of joining the Stearman family.
"I cried for three days in the apartment. But I told myself and my husband we had an agreement: I am not going to drag two teenagers who don't want to be here. And so we said, 'Well, we started on this journey. There's got to be kids for us somewhere,'" Stearman said.
Another missed connection with a different set of siblings, and Gina was on her last chance to adopt. That same friend called again, connecting her with a boy named Sergey.
Stearman invited Sergey to the house for Christmas. As their time together was winding down, Gina and Nathan offered Sergey to adopt him.
Sergey said yes.
He filled a hole in Gina's heart, left by losing Sasha and German, whom she had grown to love like her own kids.
"He does not realize how much he healed me. He's my gift," Stearman said.
Now, she looks at her son, an adopted Ukrainian, and cannot help but think about the war happening in his home country, where his siblings still live.
"It's hard to watch my kid every morning, 'How are your friends? Are they still alive?' This is his country. He's an American citizen, but that is where he's from, and I can't do anything to ease that pain," Stearman said. "[Ukraine] is suffering because of — you can't negotiate with an abuser. You can't. The abusive ex? You get rid of me, you die. And I'm watching [Russian President Vladimir Putin] do it."
Gina, Sasha, and German have stayed in close contact all this time. They still call her "Mom."
Gina got a message from Sasha on Friday: "Mom, everything's bombing where I am. I'm very afraid." Sasha is watching Russian troops lay siege to Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, where Stearman spent years of her life.
"Pieces of our heart are over there," she said.