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SALT LAKE CITY -- The lives of a Utah celebrity and his family have changed forever thanks to a positive experience with the Russian adoption process.
Jazzman Andrei Kirilenko's always wanted a big family. His wife, Masha, has been so moved by their Kirilenko Kids Foundation that after having two sons of their own, she wanted to adopt a baby girl.
"When we got her, like [I] remember the first day, they've (the boys) been flying around her like, ‘Oh! Look at this! Look at this! Mom, mom what about this?' And they want to be involved in like, you know, in her life," Andrei says.
"Without her, we were not complete, I guess. That's how I felt, you know?" Masha says. "We were 99 percent good. Now we are 100 percent good."
Little Sasha is now 9 months old. Just last fall, after a year of procedure and paperwork, a Russian court made Masha her mother.
"I'm the happiest person right now in the world. I have everything that I ever wished for," Masha says.
"Finally my dream has come true," Andrei says. "It's more and more kids I have in my house. You know, when you have somebody that loves you, you love, and you kind of share in the same life and the same experience, life experience. So, it's a very nice feeling."
E-mail: tkirkland@ksl.com
