Sixteen-month-old Claire McGann bounces happily on the lap of her big sister, Mollie, 4 1/2 , oblivious to the twist of fate that brought her to this Bel Air home.
She smiles with her four new teeth and tries to lunge at a stuffed dinosaur lying next to Frank, the family cat. A single, blond wisp of hair hangs at the nape of her neck, a reminder of previous curls. Thin, rosy scars from cranial surgery transect her head.
Claire has had two operations to correct a stunted skull. She is expected to need more.
But her adoptive parents, Lisa and Patrick McGann, hope for a full recovery.
"I wasn't looking for a perfect child," Mrs. McGann says. "I just wanted to be a mom."
Today, Mr. and Mrs. McGann will receive the first annual Domestic Adoption Recognition Award from Associated Catholic Charities of Baltimore. The award is part of the celebration of November as National Adoption Awareness Month.
"They were really chosen because of their commitment to this adoption," says Mary Ellen Bean, Catholic Charities' supervisor of adoption services. "They were willing to take a risk and be committed to this child, no matter what."
Claire's prognosis was not always positive. On the eve of her adoption by the McGanns, she was diagnosed as having severe brain damage. The adoption was delayed by Catholic Charities until its counselors could consult with Dr. Ben Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Carson was reassuring about Claire's future. He diagnosed her as having craniosynostosis, a premature closure of the skull that prevents symmetric and continuing head growth.
"He said, 'This child's got a great brain. It's her skull,' " Mrs. McGann says. "We were so happy."
Dr. Carson performed the first surgery on Claire to expand her skull size when she was 3 1/2 months old. She underwent surgery again in September.
"What you hope to do is alleviate pressure on the underlying brain and allow normal brain and skull growth," says Carol James, senior physician's assistant to Dr. Carson. "There is a great hope [Claire] will continue to gain developmental milestones and grow. You alleviate all the things holding her back and then let nature take its course."
"We're making progress. There are tiny gains each week," Mrs. McGann says.
Physical therapists come to the McGanns' beige, two-story Colonial home each week to work with Claire. She is at a 7-month-old development level, her mother says.
She can't crawl, sit up by herself or walk yet, but she is alert and outgoing. "We hope she'll eventually catch up," Mrs. McGann says.
The McGanns, who have been married for 12 years, are familiar with heartache.
Mrs. McGann, 33, is one of nine children; Mr. McGann, 34, is one of six. The couple, who were high school sweethearts, had always expected to have children.
"I never thought in my wildest dreams I couldn't," says Mrs. McGann, sitting on the carpeted family-room floor holding Claire.
The couple tried for five years to adopt a child from India. But each prospect fell through, says Mrs. McGann, a former special education teacher. Her husband works for Bell Atlantic's technical planning department.
Eventually, the McGanns learned of a pregnant Minnesota woman who wasn't able to keep her baby. They adopted Mollie when she was 12 days old.
The McGanns still stay in frequent contact with Mollie's birth mother and father.
"Mollie talks about them all the time," Mrs. McGann says. "She has heard all of her life that families are formed in different ways."
Such open adoptions are very common today, according to Mrs. Bean of Catholic Charities.
"There is a range of openness, so the couple and birth parents can have the degree that they like," she says.
The McGanns also stay in touch with Claire's birth parents. "We love them both so much," Mrs. McGann says.
Claire's birth parents were at the hospital during her most recent surgery.
"We wanted to share that with them," Mrs. McGann says. "Having the birth family being part of the children's lives is best for all. It doesn't diminish our role as parents in any way."
Another positive aspect of an open adoption is learning about the birth family's interests, talents and background, Mrs. McGann says.
"When we got Mollie, it helped us bond to this new infant," she says. "She wasn't just this newborn infant who ate, slept and wet her diaper. She had a heritage that went with her."
The McGanns also kept the girls' birth names as middle names. They wanted to give them their first names, though.
"It was what we could give them from us," Mrs. McGann explains.
Fair-haired Mollie is named after a great-grandmother; Claire is an Irish name they especially liked.
But the children's birth parents are never far from their thoughts.
Says Mrs. McGann: "I'm so totally aware of the precious life I was given. I'm enjoying motherhood so much. . . . By their grace, I'm a mom."