Luzaida Cuevas and the child she named Delimar Vera were officially reunited Monday afternoon at state family services offices in Burlington County, N.J.
The family planned a ``small, private gathering of friends and family'' to celebrate, Cuevas' attorney, Alexander Murphy Jr., said in a statement.
``Luz is taking a very private approach to this,'' Murphy said before the reunion took place. ``It's been exhausting for her and for everyone, and she just wants to be able to focus completely on her daughter.''
Cuevas, 31, quickly ushered her daughter through a back door into her Northeast Philadelphia home as night fell. The girl, dressed in a blue hooded jacket and pink pants, giggled but did not speak.
There was no word from the family on what they had planned for the girl on Tuesday. Calls seeking comment from the family's attorneys were not immediately returned.
Cuevas will try to alleviate any distress and confusion for the child by calling her by the name she was given by her alleged kidnapper - Aaliyah.
Police allege that Carolyn Correa, a cousin by marriage of the girl's father, snatched the 10-day-old girl from her crib in December 1997, torched the house to cover her crime and raised the infant as her own.
Cuevas said she instantly recognized the girl as her daughter at a Jan. 24 birthday party. DNA tests established that Cuevas and Pedro Vera were the girl's biological parents, police said.
Correa is charged with arson, kidnapping and 13 other counts. Correa, 42, of Willingboro, N.J., has been held on $1 million bail since her arrest March 2.
Cuevas and Vera, who are no longer a couple, were awarded legal custody of their daughter Friday. The three had met several times to get acquainted and to prepare for the child's transition to her mother's home.
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