DATE: Sunday, May 18, 1997                  TAG: 9705160213

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SANDRA BARKER, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   85 lines

WESTERN BRANCH COUPLE ADDS 2 RUSSIAN GIRLS TO THEIR BROOD OF 5 YOUNG ADOPTED ORPHAN SISTERS WHO DIDN'T EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER NOW HAVE CHESAPEAKE BROTHERS. CHESAPEAKE BROTHERS.

The love and perseverance of Ken and Karen Swan have given two little Russian girls a new home in America. New clothes, new haircuts, new language, new grandparents and five new brothers are all part of Maria and Marguarita's new world.

Maria, 6, nicknamed Masha, displays a big, dimpled smile as she holds her new Barbie and playfully tugs at her brother's ears. Marguarita, 3, nicknamed Rita, offers hugs to visitors, then sits contentedly in her mother's lap, giggling as another brother tickles her toes.

With the adoption of two daughters, Ken and Karen Swan have become the proud parents of seven children in their Western Branch home. Masha and Rita's siblings are Wesley, 9; Brandon, 8; Austin, 5; Kendall, 3; and Quinton, 16 months.

When asked how they feel about their new sister, Wesley and Brandon each pantomime a finger-in-the-mouth gagging motion, yet these same boys willingly allow Masha to shower them with hugs and pinches, and often vie for her attention.

Many people shake their heads in wonder, and ask, ``Why choose to have seven children?''

Karen smiles, ``In `The Sound of Music' they had seven children and I thought that was the most terrific thing I had ever seen. I wanted a lot of children. Five would have been fine, but we wanted a girl as well.''

The search for a daughter began in Feb. 1996 when Karen Swan read an article in ``Dear Abby'' about an adoption agency in Missouri that handles Russian adoptions. The Swans originally wanted a baby girl, and Russia was one of the few countries that would allow them to adopt an infant.

The Swans contacted the Small World Adoption Agency and, in June last year, began filling out papers, going through a home study, crime search, immigration proceedings, ``tons of paperwork,'' that was completed in October. The documents were translated by the adoption agency, and sent to Russia to await an invitation from the Mayor of Maykop to visit the city.

Finally, in January, the Swans received a video of five adoptable girls, and were given two days to decide which child they wanted.

``Masha was the first child on the tape,'' Karen Swan said. ``She just took my heart right away. The idea of a baby went right out the window.''

After a call to the adoption agency, the Swans learned that Masha had a sister, Rita, also on the tape and the sisters must be adopted as a unit. Abandoned by their Russian parents, the girls were in separate orphanages, unaware that they were even sisters. To make matters more difficult, Ken Swan, executive officer on the nuclear submarine Newport News, was in Italy, only available by telephone.

Ken knew Karen wanted Masha, and although he was thousands of miles away, he offered just the support his wife needed, pointing out that if the girls were together, they would never get lonely and that Karen herself had always wished she had a sister.

Even though she wanted a large family and a daughter, it was the fear of ridicule that made Karen think long and hard before deciding to adopt the two girls.

``I prayed and prayed about it, she said. ``I think I was more scared what other people would think, that I had lost my mind for having seven children. I was riding down 664, and it kind of hit me - `What do you care what other people think? God will give you the strength to handle what you need to handle. He always has.' ''

Once the decision was made - and Karen watched the tape again - she said, ``They were my children, and I loved them from the very start.''

In mid-April, around the time most Americans were frantically filing their income-tax returns, Ken and Karen Swan were in Maykop, Russia, filing final papers to adopt the two orphans.

After spending nearly two weeks in Russia, the Swans were glad to get back to America. Russia presented a land of contrasts: a kindly judge with a mouthful of bright, gold teeth; filthy airports where dogs, cats and homeless children wandered; a family in Maykop who provided lodging; cold, drafty van rides and stern Russian officials.

``Russia is bleak and gray, and the people were pitiful and poor,'' Karen Swan said. ``It makes you appreciate the great country we live in.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by SANDRA BARKER

Maria, 6, who is called Masha, plays with her oldest brother Wesley,

9, and the family dog, Bitsy.

Marguarita, 3, called Rita, sits comfortably in the lap of her new

mother, Karen Swan. The sisters speak little English but their

smiles need no translation.

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