By Helen Pow PUBLISHED: 19:07 EST, 27 December 2012 | UPDATED: 12:11 EST, 28 December 2012 A Utah family has adopted a four-year-old Down syndrome girl from Russia, just before President Vladimir Putin moved to ban U.S. citizens bringing the country's children to America. Heather and Jeremy Fillmore welcomed little Hazel into their home on Christmas Eve after fighting for almost a year to get her here. But they will be among the last of more than 60,000 American families to bring up a Russian child as their own as Russia signed a bill today outlawing the process. Putin's approval of the adoption ban will leave nearly 50 Russian children on the verge of adoption by U.S. families now stranded.
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Hazel among the last of some 60,000 Russian children to grow up in U.S.
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Now 50 Russian children on brink of adoption expected to miss out
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U.S families adopt more Russian children than those of any other country
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Unicef estimates that 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia
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Only 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt a child
Putin reiterated Russian complaints that U.S. courts have been too lenient on parents in such cases, saying @placeholder has inadequate access to Russian-born children in the United States despite a bilateral agreement that entered into force on November 1.