A woman who was widowed and childless begins to adopt children of different nationalities. This woman alone created a large and loving family of 16 children. When her impressive story came to public attention, those who knew her were very proud, those who had given her a hand breathed freely and those who were unaware of her struggle wanted to learn more about this remarkable woman.

The mother of this large family is Larissa Hovsepyan.

She was born in 1941 in Yerevan. Her mother was a doctor and her father was a soldier in the Second World War. After finishing secondary school, Larissa studied at Yerevan State University. In 1971 she began working at "Hayfilm" cinema studio as an operator assistant. She moved up to second operator and ended her work in the studio as the head of an entire production team. She got married, but after only 6 month her husband died before they could begin a family.  Larissa filled this void in her heart by creating her own large and loving adopted family.

 The First Adopted

Larissa adopted her first child in 1982 from a maternity hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania.  She named the boy Hayrapet in honor of her father.

The Family Grows

Soon after adopting baby Hayrapet, Larissa found a three year old girl wandering alone at a train station in Vilnius. She took her to a Russian orphanage. For two months she regularly went to see the girl. She wanted to adopt the child, but was not permitted to because there was no documentation concerning the girl. Larissa would not give up because she couldn't forget what the little girl said at their last meeting.

She asked: "Mother, when are you coming back?"

Larissa returned to Armenia with little Hayrapet but did not give up hope. Later she went back to Vilnius, but the girl didn't recognize Larissa because she had fallen ill with meningitis. Larissa still won't give up and finally manages to adopt Anahit, her second child. The family enlarges very fast but when Larissa's job at "Hayfilm" is cut, she starts work as a maid and then as a postal carrier.  Anything to feed her growing family.

In 1984, an article about the family appeared  in "Hayastani Ashkhatavoruhi" newspaper resulting in many phone calls and letters. Among those inquiring were two orphans. Once again Larissa opened her arms to take in both Ruzanna and Armen. By 1988 Larissa's family was already 10 children, when Hagop became number 11.  The Russian government declared Larissa a Hero Mother awarding her silver and bronze medals of the USSR.