PENG XIJU the name means - Precious Jade - is on her way to Ireland today after becoming the first Chinese baby to be adopted by Irish parents since a Supreme Court decision in July cleared the way for adoptions from China.
Aged 19 months, Peng Xiju was united with her new parents, Mr and Mrs Cyril and Susan Mulligan of Dublin, in Wuhan after a 15 month legal struggle.
The infant, who will be Louise, was abandoned at near the orphanage in a Chinese city, and assigned to a couple by the Chinese Adoption Centre in May 1995.
"They advised us that this child had been referred to us," said Mrs Mulligan, as Peng Xiju played on her knee in the Jianguo Hotel in Beijing yesterday. "We were jumping up and down with excitement."
But the Irish Adoption Board refused to recognise the adoption, mainly because Chinese law allowed it to be ended by agreement between the parties, which differed from Irish law.
The Chinese authorities declined to complete the formalities unless the adoption was recognised in Ireland.
Meanwhile "Precious Jade" - was in limbo, said Mr Mulligan (50), proprietor of the Clifton Court Hotel at O'Connell Bridge. She had been placed in foster care in Wuhan, and could not be offered for adoption to anyone else.
The couple, along with two others, secured a High Court ruling in May 1996 in their favour on the grounds that an adoption could only be revoked if the natural and adoptive parents and the child all agreed, which was unlikely.
The Mulligans' plans were suspended again when the Adoption Board appealed. However the Supreme Court rejected the appeal on July 25th.
The couple, who have no children and have been married 12 years, still had to wait for clearance from the Chinese Adoption centre. "I checked the fax machine every morning for three weeks before a message came inviting us to China," said Mrs Mulligan (38).
An hour after checking into their hotel in Wuhan on September 9th, a small delegation of Chinese officials arrived with the pyjama clad child asleep in their arms. It was an emotionally charged moment for the Dublin couple, but their trials were not yet over. They had to spend a week completing formalities, which included having Peng Xiju's footprint impressed on a document in red ink.
Finally after a ceremony held under the flag of the People's Republic of China, the baby received its passport from the Wuhan police.
In Beijing Peng Xiju, along with her parents, was a special guest at a dinner held by the Irish ambassador, Mr Joe Hayes, for visiting Irish parliamentarians on Tuesday evening.
"We would not be here if it wasn't for the Department of Foreign Affairs," said Mr Mulligan, who said the Chinese Adoption Board had also gone out of its way to be helpful.
With Irish babies no longer becoming available for adoption, some 100 Irish couples are registered with International OrphanAid seeking Chinese adoptions, of which 28 have been approved by health boards.
As she watched her child playing in the Beijing hotel, Mrs Mulligan remarked: "It's brilliant, we'd like to come again and adopt another one."