Although adoption from Lebanon isn't big enough for a Yahoo group or its own category on the Adoption.com forums, it does happen, and it does make the news.

This story about a family from New Hampshire proves it ... but Boy Howdy!!! it ain't easy, or often.

According to the US State Department Website's page on adoption from Lebanon, only four immigrant visas were issued for adoptees in 2006.

Laura Gabriel's family counts for one of those.

Laura's husband, Scot, comes from Lebanese stock, so adopting from there had appeal. The couple went to Beirut to begin the process in May of 2006. Weeks later, Scot returned home, and left Laura to finalize.

The child, a now 19-month-old boy named Logan, was with her, but not allowed to leave the country.

In July, Israel began dropping bombs on Beirut. With no passport for the baby, and certainly not willing to travel without him, he and Laura were stuck, along with her mother and Scot's father.

Back and forth to the bomb shelter between phone calls to Scot who was hounding everyone he could find, politicians and the press, to do what they could to get things moving so his family could get out of the war zone and return home, became the order of each day.

Ultimately successful, the baby was granted "humanitarian parole" ... such an imposing term for such a little guy ... and allowed to leave Lebanon.

A military helicopter, a US Navy warship and a military plane later, Laura, Logan, et al, arrived back on US soil.

Four hundred thank-you notes were due, including a couple to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and former Congressman Martin Meehan, D-Mass., who were instrumental in getting Logan the clearance he needed to come into the United States.

And now, one year later, the family is doing the happily-ever-after thing.

Adoption from Lebanon is obviously potentially fraught, but there are no residency requirements and adoption can take between four months and one year.

The religion of the child has more to do with anything than does government, as churches and church officials make the rules and adoptions must be approved by these and religious courts.

For example, Muslim children are subject to Shari'a law that does not allow for adoptions as generally perceived in the US. See the State Department flyer on Adoption from Islamic Countries for more information.

Catholic children can only be adopted into families where at least one of the parents is Catholic, Armenian Orthodox kids need to have at least 15 years difference in age between child and parents, and so on. (Those wanting to adopt some Orthodox kids may be asked to produce proof of infertility.)

There are also Maronite kids, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Catholics and Greek Catholics, all with their own controls over children in their care.

There are no adoption agencies in Lebanon, and in addition to the church officials, attorneys who specialize in family law handle adoptions.