ORLANDO, Fla. – A couple introduced to viewers by News 6 in December -- who had been selling Christmas trees to offset adoption costs -- has returned to Central Florida with a baby girl.
The Homans got back from India a week ago, and they've now expanded their family of four to five.
Jamie and Ben Homan said it took help from the community to get results on this remarkable journey.
"We were so happy to be able to finally bring her home," Jamie Homan said.
The couple have come a long way since December, when they sold trees in Lake County to raise the money. Now, five months later, the family has 15-month-old Noora, who's been adjusting nicely with her new brother and big sister.
But the family said the process hasn't been easy, waiting for more than a year to adopt the girl from India with just a couple photos of her.
"It's a long, lengthy research process -- choosing an agency, getting the paperwork involved, a lot of medical (processes)," Ben Homan said.
The Homans said they'd wanted to adopt for as long as they could remember. Then in January, they took a leap of faith. They relocated the family -- including their two toddlers from Clermont to India for a couple months to foster the child first.
They said when they first saw Noora, the connection was instant.
"We got there (and) she was so big and sitting there waiting for us," Jamie Homan said. "And she said, 'Mama!' And I was like, 'Aww, she's ready for us.'"
The family said the donations they raised from selling Christmas trees helped cover all the expenses, including travel and their foster time, in India.
They hope sharing their story now helps inspire other people to adopt, as well.
"There's a lot of children that are just waiting for families all over the world, not just India," Ben Homan said. "She's changed our life forever in a much bigger way then we may have changed hers."