Westbrook couple arrive home with adopted girl Officials refused to grant Cambodian child a visa

WESTBROOK – Greg and Kim Sferes didn’t know whether they were adopting a boy or girl when they painted the nursery.

They opted for butter yellow walls, a cloud-flecked blue sky on the ceiling and a honey-gold pine floor – all fitting for the child they brought back from Cambodia, a 10-month-old girl whose name means “sunrise” in Khmer.

The couple brought Sorya back to Maine on Sunday, in time to celebrate their first Christmas together in Westbrook.

The Sfereses, whose family operates an industrial cleaning supply company, are among 13 couples who fought for months with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to get visas for their adopted children. INS officials claimed the children were possible victims of baby trafficking; the embassy refused to issue the visas.

“When we would call the embassy, they would tell us to stop calling our congressmen,” Greg Sferes said. “They said, ‘It’s not going to do you any good. Not even the president can help you.'”

The INS issued “parole” visas for the babies Friday, after the case was featured on ABC’s “20/20” and a unidentified high-ranking official intervened on their behalf.

Before Sorya’s visa was issued, an embassy official told the Sfereses they should return the girl to the orphanage and leave Cambodia.

But the couple was determined to bring the child back to Maine, even before they arrived in Cambodia. Once they arrived, they saw how difficult life could be for Sorya in the poverty-stricken nation.

“We would be walking along, carrying Sorya, and teen-agers would come up to us and say, ‘Lucky baby. Lucky baby. You take me. You take me,'” Kim Sferes said. “I’m sure if we had left her there, her life would have been dreadful.”

If the INS had refused to reconsider Sorya’s case, the couple was prepared to stay in Cambodia for two years. Under U.S. immigration law, a visa can be issued for a child if the adoptive parents spend two years in the child’s native country.

In order to get Sorya’s visa, the couple had to promise to return her to Cambodia if one of her parents ever claims her. But they are confident that won’t happen.

Her records indicate she was abandoned in Cheng Meng village and given a birth date of Feb. 27. The village chief issued a permit on March 14 that allowed the orphanage to take custody.

“If a child is going to be abandoned, nobody is going to come forward to claim her,” Kim Sferes said. “But if someone did, we wouldn’t keep her.”

Despite the emotional and financial hardship – the couple spent $30,000 in Cambodia in addition to the $15,000 in adoption fees – the Sfereses say they may adopt another child. They are keen on international adoption, but warn prospective adoptive parents to make sure a child has prior visa approval before they leave the United States.