Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette
	Ted and Cheryle Roberts, of Wilkins, kiss their daughter Diana, 12, who they adopted from Ukraine in 2003, as their dog Samantha watches. Diana's brother, Yuri, who they are trying to adopt, is coming to Pittsburgh today. A photo of Yuri, 14, is on the table in the foreground.

Yuri Mashkarynets is 14. His sister, Diana, is 12. The two haven't seen each other since they were toddlers in a Ukrainian orphanage.

The Roberts family of the Eastmont section of Wilkins expects to change that today with a reunion that has been long in the planning and may lead to Yuri joining his sister as an adopted member of the family.

"He and Diana will be thrilled. She is very excited," said Cheryle Roberts, who with her husband, Ted, are Diana's adoptive parents. "When she asked [Yuri] if he wanted to be adopted, he was thrilled. He always wanted a mother and father and Diana always says that he will be glad to get out of that place."

The Robertses have never met Yuri, but for the past year, they have been exchanging letters with Yuri, who is still in an orphanage in Ukraine.

Diana and Yuri were orphaned a decade ago, and they were together in an orphanage for a while. But Yuri was moved out as he got older, and the siblings lost touch with each other.

Diana came into the Robertses' life three years ago. They were unable to have children and, because of their ages -- he is in his 50s and she is 48 -- were put on a long waiting list to adopt American children.

But an acquaintance who had adopted a child from China got them interested in international adoptions. They eventually hooked up with an adoption agency in Ukraine and they adopted Diana in 2003. At first, they were told she had no living relatives.

But they quickly learned that she, indeed, had a brother, Yuri, who was in Holland.

The Robertses talked about adopting Yuri, too, but backed off when they were told he was in Holland for medical reasons. They later learned, however, that was not true and Yuri had only been there on a summer vacation.

A year later, Mrs. Roberts said, she decided to try to contact Yuri by letter.

Months passed with no return word from the boy. But in September, to the family's surprise, a letter written in Russian and translated into English landed in their mailbox.

More letters were exchanged and, with the help of a nonprofit group called Life2Orphans, the Robertses learned enough about Yuri to decide they would try to adopt him, and reunite the siblings.

Mrs. Roberts explained their decision by recalling why they had adopted Diana. She was truly an orphan, with no family. She said many of the children from the orphanage had parents who had to give them up for financial or other reasons. Diana was one of the few who had no family at all to care for her, and Yuri was in the same situation.

At first, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts worried about the difficulties Yuri might face if they adopted him and, because of his age, even whether he wanted to become a part of their family. But in his letters, Yuri has made it clear that he does.

"I want to try to give this child a life, some sort of a chance so that he won't end up on the streets," Mrs. Roberts said.

For the past several months, Diana and Yuri have been mailing letters and photos. The Robertses use a computer to translate their letters into Russian, and a volunteer from Life2Orphans helps translate Yuri's into English.

"One of the reasons that we asked if he could come for the summer, for a trial run, was to see how he adjusts to us. I'm a little worried about him not knowing the language, but I think he will be OK. I'm 99 percent sure we will be able to adopt him."

Yuri can stay in the country only until Aug. 20. The Robertses hope to get to know him better, reunite him with his sister, tour Pittsburgh and continue in the effort to adopt him.

There is a one-year waiting period after the child is registered for adoption to give Ukrainians a last chance to adopt him.

With overseas adoptions becoming more difficult because of stricter laws, Mrs. Roberts is unsure how long the process will take.

"I'm just happy that he is able to come to the U.S., and I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they meet," said Mrs. Roberts about Yuri and Diana.