15 years ago American couple adopted four Kazakhstani orphans to fill their hearts and home (PHOTOS)

Aslan, Zarina, Sergei and Rustem were toddlers when they came to the U.S.  and spoke only Kazakh and Russian languages.

Jan and Bobby Kilic lost their own four children of five and parents in a devastating earthquake in Turkey while they were on vacation.  They decided to adopt orphans from Kazakhstan  to forget their grief and fill their home.    

Jan survived the earthquake with severe injuries. Their middle child Natalie had scratches and bruises.

“I was just sitting, being Natalie’s mom, going from five children to one,”  Jan says remembering that those tragic days. That made them to think about adoption.  

The Kilics live in Atlanta. Every year they go to Rosemary Beach to spend  Thanksgiving with Jan’s parents, Champee and Bill Kemp.

Jan and Bobby decided not to change the children’s names to let them feel closer to their homeland.

It took them less than two months to formalize the documents and adopt children from a Kazakh orphanage.  Initially they planned to adopt Turkish children who lost their families in quake, but immigration rules made that a challenge.  

In May 2000 they brought home four toddlers. There were 120 children in the “baby house”, who were left by their parents at birth.  

The Kilics equipped their house in Atlanta with everything required for bringing up the toddlers. They organized a classroom and built a playground and a pool.   

Although doctors had told Jan that she would not be able to have more children she became pregnant and gave birth to a boy. Michael is now 11.

Aslan, Zarina and Sergei attend a senior class in a high school. They plan to enter a college. Rustem, who is 16, will stay at home for another year with Michael. Natalie is a student at the University of Alabama.

All of the boys are wrestlers.  

Zarina is a cheerleader, and she trains younger students.  

Sergei wants to attend the University of Alabama and get a full academic scholarship.

Rustem plans to join the Marines when he finishes high school and go to culinary school after finishing his service.

Some of the teenagers are eager to see their home country. Others would like to see the orphanage, as if it might answer the questions they can’t help but ask.

“I just wish I could see what my real mom and dad looked like,”  Zarina says.

Only Sergei has no interest in going back, or looking back.

“I think it happened in the past,” he says. “What happened in the past should stay in the past.”

See more at http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/20151128/NEWS/151129343