Fayetteville residents Gail

and Kirby Daras wanted another child and, due to fertility issues, decided

to look into international adoption. They began the process in March of

2002 and successfully completed the adoption a month ago. Though there

were a number of complications, involving red tape, good old fashioned

bureaucracy and other hoops to jump through, the Daras family is very

happy with their newest member, Lily Jean.

Gail Daras saw an ad in the

paper about an international adoption seminar and told her husband, who

was in Kuwait with the U.S. Army at the time, that she was thinking about

attending the meeting and getting some more information. He agreed and

she began the process, doing lots of research and starting the mountains

of paperwork that would be necessary.

"People told me that I

would never be able to do this, especially with my husband overseas,"

said Daras. "I told them just watch me." That determination

would come in handy over the next 19 months, as the Daras' faced

some glitches that would have stalled other people out.

At the seminar, Daras was linked

up with Lutheran Ministries International, a non-profit agency that had

connections in China. Each country's adoption process is different,

especially when it comes to price. For China, a $3,000 donation to their

orphanage/agency is expected and the money goes towards taking care of

both children and the elderly.

As for the mountain of paperwork,

the first step was a physical, followed by fingerprints taken at the police

department, which were sent to the GBI, more paperwork and fingerprints

with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which halfway through

the process became the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services,

and money to pay for the paperwork and fingerprint processing. One snag

with the fingerprints is that they are only good for a window of 15 months

and the Daras' hit another snag when Kirby's fingerprints had

to be redone on more than one occasion, thereby closing the window and

both sets having to be redone. Remember, all of this was happening while

he was still deployed overseas.

Things were slowing down and

the Daras's were getting a bit discouraged. They sought help with

the BCIS from local representatives and finally got it from Congressman

Mac Collins and his Congressional constituent representative Jean Studdard.

They set up an appointment for Gail and Kirby, who got a two week leave

to return stateside and get everything in order. He had to get the fingerprints

taken again, get a document from the Atlanta Sheriff's office stating

that he had no criminal background and that he swore to tell the truth

when questioned. They got the piece of paperwork necessary and the process

sped up.

Another thing that sped up

the process was their decision to adopt a special needs child. The definition

of special needs in China is different from the American definition, in

that any child with a birth defect in China is labeled special needs.

Lily was born with encephalomengicocle, which is a sac on her skull and

may require an operation in the future.

They made the decision to adopt

a special needs child in January of 2003, submitted their dossier, which

was a collection of all of their paperwork, which had been notarized (and

there was a small snag with that as well) on June 25 and were approved

on Aug. 22. They weren't notified of the approval until Sept. 3 but

"It was an amazing experience,"

said Daras. She and her husband flew into Beijing and had a day to tour

the sites before flying to the Xiajiang province the next day. Lily had

been living with a foster family since the age of three months. She was

nearing her third birthday when the Daras family arrived and it was a

tough first night in the hotel, after her foster mother left. The tears

stopped soon when Lily attempted to put on her new father's sneakers,

which caused the new family to giggle and smile.

There was still more to be

done in China with more paperwork to be filled out, a medical exam for

Lily, several sets of pictures to be taken and a promise before the U.S.

Consulate to be good parents. The family flew