Our Adoption Story

“She is ours?” I asked, looking at the picture. “She is ours!” Replied my husband, keeping his hand over mine. As I stared at the screen, my mind wandered.

Husband, my then boyfriend, and I were barely into our few months of relationship when the talk about having children cropped up in our conversation.

I thought for a few minutes before I could muster up the courage to speak my mind.

“I would like to adopt a child. Especially a girl child.” I had said. He was silent for some time and I thought I freaked him out. And, it was a pleasant surprise when he muttered, “Oh my God! I have the same dream!”

And just like that, it was a signal that we were perfect for each other.

We hadn’t really researched the process but the will to adopt hung in our hearts. When we planned on having kids after our wedding, we realised it would be better if we had one of our own and then went for adoption with the second one.

After our daughter was born, the first 3 years went in a zombie state and thus this decision of ours took a backseat. When she turned 5, we talked about the same, but the constant movement between cities and no stability in life delayed our decision.

Years later, in 2021, the amount of death that we saw during Covid pinched our hearts. Hundreds of kids were orphaned overnight with no promise for a better life. That’s when my husband urged, that we should research again about adoption. After all, wasn’t this something we always wanted to do!

That’s when I delved deep and learned about the process and we made up our minds.

Talking to our 7-year-old about this and taking her approval was much needed too. When she jumped in excitement and gave us a green signal, we put our plan into action happily.

We registered with CARA and waited for the day when we would get our baby, which was close to 3 years.

But God had other plans. He was probably angry at us for delaying this decision so much that he made sure we didn’t need to wait any longer.

A month and a half into our waiting period, on a hot afternoon, while going through the website, we chanced upon a baby in a category that not many people opt for.

The special need.

It’s filled with kids who need special attention for the first few years of their life due to various health reasons.

That’s where we first saw Kiara. Kiara was a spunky 1-year-old with a big round face and pretty eyes. One look at her and my husband and I knew we had found our 2nd daughter. Our minds worked in rhythm and we chose her.

She was ours!

The moment, when we saw her latest picture and a short video, will forever be etched in my memory. 

We flew to the place she was at and got her home. 

Her home.

Our home.

The first few days needed patience, time, and love. She would just keep looking at both of us, and communicated more with her elder sister. 

She refused to sleep on our bed and would get up at the slightest touch. We got her a separate crib the next day, which we never had done before with our elder daughter.

We would watch her sleep clutching the teddy bear and kicking off the blanket that kept her warm, waking up in the middle of the night and crying. It broke my husband’s heart and he tried to co-sleep with her but she just pushed him away. How can a one-year-old’s arm have such strength was beyond me.

Over the next few days, we scrambled with her likes and dislikes. Noticing things that made her smile, things that made her frown. Along with high-fives and claps, she learned to slowly open up to our touches and hugs. Elder sister chanced upon the opportunity and filled her little face with kisses. Husband and I weren’t too far behind. She reciprocated by kissing us back and we felt our hearts brimming with love.

Then one day, a month into getting her home, marked the turning point in our lives. She refused to be kept in the crib and cried, reaching her arms out to us. When we laid her between us, she smiled and snuggled a little closer to her father. Husband’s eyes widened and his heartbeat raced. She clutched on to his tee-shirt in a tight grip and fell asleep on his shoulder.. The rest of the night she kept rolling between her dad and me, her hand on one of us all the time and no cry escaped her mouth the whole night. We felt our daughter had finally accepted us as her parents.

As she lay between us, with our elder one cooped near me on the other side, husband and I looked at each other.  Our dream of 12 years had finally come true. 

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