Romania

BRIANON NORDHAGEN'S adoptive parents from America found her in an orphanage in Braila, Romania. She weighed less than eight pounds, though she was seven months old. A year later, she is a vibrant little girl who, in her pink dress with white lace, stole the show as one of 22 new Americans sworn in at the United States District Court in Helena, Mont. Her father, Blair, works for the state highway department. Her mother, Reva, a medical technician, was interviewed just after Brianon became a US citizen:

"Oh, gosh - she is just a wonderful baby! Some of our family was very supportive of our going to Romania and some absolutely forbid us to go because they were very fearful. But we just decided we would do it, even though we didn't know where we would stay or who would be our contact. And we decided we wouldn't `baby shop,' but would take any baby they gave us. Her parents had abandoned her at two months because they had seven children. Her belly was swollen with hunger, and she didn't cry for the first t wo months we had her. We weren't sure she wasn't crippled. When we went to the US Embassy the next day, people came up to touch her and pray for her. It was really wonderful. We would do this again in a flash."