While the world is all praise for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for their intercountry adoption of underprivileged kids, celebs with adopted babies in India are not far behind.
Although talking about the alleged hidden identity of SRK’s little Abram’s birth-mother is better for the news channels TRP, there are many other celebs with adopted babies but who weren’t talked about.
Adoption in India
Traditionally speaking, adoption in India has not been the first choice for most people. It was always the last resort in case the couple could not have a child of their own. However, that is all changing in today’s age. In fact, did you know there are many famous adopted children who are now celebrities? The famous actor and Padma Bhushan awardee, Rajesh Khanna, was an adopted kid. Even the Internationally popular actress and singer, Marilyn Monroe went through several foster homes. Salman Khan’s younger sister, Arpita was also adopted by Salman Khan’s parents.
However, one of the first Indian mainstream Bollywood actress with an adopted child was Sushmita Sen. She was a young 24-year-old when she adopted Renee in 2000. Ten years later, she adopted her second daughter Alisah. In an interview, she said “The wisest decision I made at the age of 24 was to become a mother. It stabilized my life. People think it was a great act of charity and wonderful action, but it was self-preservation. It was me protecting myself,” Sushmita Sen actively shares big and small moments with her fans on Instagram. Recently, she shared an essay her younger daughter wrote on adoption. One of Sushmita’s favorite lines from the essay was “You gave life in such a way, that you saved a life.”
Other Celebs with Adopted Babies
While others were busy posting pictures of baby showers and gender reveals, Sunny Leone went ahead and adopted a cute bundle of joy, Nisha. Sunny and her husband also have two baby boys through surrogacy.
Adoption in IndiaBut, the journey to adoption has not been easy for everyone. Talking about her experience, Mandira Bedi, an actor, and hands-on-mother to 8-year-old Vir, said that she and her husband Raj really wanted a baby girl. They had even decided they would call her Tara. However, the couple had applied at CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) over two years ago and still hadn’t heard anything. “Unfortunately, the procedure hasn’t moved forward since then. I’m eagerly waiting to get approval from them so that we can bring a new addition to our family.” If you go on looking, you will come across many celebs with adopted babies like Mithun and Raveena Tondon, who adopted an underprivileged child or chose to be a parent to a young relative who needed it.
Colgate’s Advertisement
Recently, Colgate introduced its new brand expression “Smile and get started.” Two heart-touching nuanced TV’s bring this message to life. While one of them shows a nervous young woman who chooses to smile as she takes over the company from her father, the second one shows a woman being unsure if she would make a good mother. But, then you see her don a smile as she goes on to adopt a girl child.
Advertisements like these play a huge role in the psyche of the people. It helps normalize issues that are otherwise frowned upon. In India, unknowingly or knowingly, celebs with adopted babies have been setting the trend for a long time now. One can hope that the adoption of kids is something that is normalized with time. The biggest lesson to learn is perhaps to not keep adoption as the last option but, as the first choice.
