nancy sneiderman adoptd a baby girl who is now a graduate student. and as you're about to hear, she recently took nancy along for what turned out to be an extraordinary reunion with the woman whose decision changed both of their lives. >> hi. >> oh, god, i can't brief it. >> reporter: it was a moment she waited for her whole life. my daughter kate hugged her birth mother cheryl for the first time. >> you're a lot different than you were 2 years ago. >> reporter: 27 years ago i was a young surgeon in little rock, arkansas. >> i had a career in front of me. and one night i got a phone call from a doctor saying would you adopt this baby? and my answer was yes. >> reporter: that phone call changed my life. suddenly, i was a mother to a 7 pound baby girl. >> i can't ever remember not knowing i was adopted. >> reporter: kate made no secret of the fact that one day she wanted to meet her blojic mom. >> a couple months after i posted the listing, i got an e-mail. it said i think i'm your sister. your mother loves you, and she would love to meet you some day.

. >> and after her data mash unit dr. nancy sneiderman is back at base camp in ce. and l's start with what's behind you. this is ver common. we saw it in katrina, in haiti. this is atwo-stage ing. the aid arrives on big pallets, but getting it out to people is another thing entirely. how are those american doctors getting to tt post in the firsplace, and how do we get that list of supplies you reeled off. how do we get all of that to them? >>eporter: well, y're right about the suppliesround me. they're basically canned meat, sardines and rice. the big art remembeeries are op the capillaries to the peoples the tough rt. the doctors were ingenious. they were on their way to a five-d medical mission to xico, heard about this rerouted, got to hong ko and cebu a the military took them down to tacloban and then left them there. th then put their supplies on car and jeep, lot of them walked. th heard about this to that basically the wod hadn't been reporting. fod city hall. and this is mammoth medical mission. and ey are a bunch ofoctors from around the country, but bad ou

nancy sneiderman and her dart on a very personal journey, to meet the birth mother she never knew. nightly news begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters, this is nbc nightly news with brie and