Appellate Defender Glenn Gerding, by Assistant Appellate Defender J. Lee Gilliam, for respondent-appellant. Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P., Raleigh, by J. Mitchell Armbruster, for guardian ad litem. Mercedes O. Chut, P.A., by Mercedes O. Chut, Greensboro, for petitioner-appellee.