For the Freeman family, this Christmas was years in the making.

This holiday season Derek and Laurie Freeman will be celebrating with their three children: daughter Iboya and sons Karl and Sebi, who they adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine.

When the couple found out they couldn’t have children of their own, they started to look at alternatives. Derek’s cousin had adopted a child from Russia 12 years ago and, while Russia no longer does international adoptions, the Freemans looked at other countries and landed on Ukraine.

Through their research, they learned that about 150,000 children are in orphanages in Ukraine for a number of reasons including poverty, war and disease. In the case of the Freeman’s children, the father is unknown and the mother died from complications during childbirth.

The Freemans were originally only going to adopt two children, but it was an interpreter that was familiar with the three siblings’ file that led to the adoption.

The process cost tens of thousands of dollars due to legal fees and a couple of trips to Ukraine. Derek said there was a lot of red tape because it was an international adoption.

“The biggest stumbling blocks were in Ukraine. If you had a spelling mistake on your paperwork, they just kicked it back,” he said.

Shortly after their first trip to Ukraine, the Freemans appeared in a virtual courtroom where they were officially named the parents of the three children. Yet, the new parents still had to wait.

“After that, there's a 30-day wait period where a family member could come forth and contest it. That didn't happen in our case, but yeah, until we had the kids with us, it was very nerve-wracking waiting,” Laurie said.

When they were adopted, Carl, Iboya and Sebi did not speak any English. Now with their new family, they are starting to pick up the language and they are attending school at Sacred Heart.

“Their faces are just full of excitement and just their faces themselves have become fuller and they just look happy and healthy,” Derek exclaimed.

Listen to the full interview below. 

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