Tennessee ? A judge has appointed a psychologist to work with an 8-year-old Chinese girl whose parents fought for seven years to get her back from foster care – one of the first steps toward reuniting the family.

David Siegel, an attorney for parents Shaoqiang and Qin Luo He, said the reunion could take several months and will proceed on the advice of psychologists trying to limit emotional trauma for Anna Mae He, now a second-grader.

The girl has lived since she was a month old with an American couple, Jerry and Louise Baker, who tried to adopt her over her parents’ objections.