Rani was misled by adoptive parents about biological mother

Rani (39) from Maarheeze was just 2 years old when she was adopted from her native India by a Flemish couple. She soon had numerous problems with her adoptive parents. She recently learned that her biological mother is probably still alive and started a search. “My adoptive parents hid this from me for years.”

Rani was picked up in India by her adoptive father. “I had tapeworms in my intestines when I entered Belgium. In all likelihood, I was ill and that is why my biological mother had to give me up,” says Rani.

She initially had a good relationship with her adoptive father, which she never had with her adoptive mother. “We tried to bond by going on trips together, but she never felt like my 'real' mother,” says Rani. As a four-year-old she already realized that these were not her biological parents. “My skin color was different and I was forced to say mom and dad.”

"I was locked in a garden shed."

Soon her relationship with her father also changed and a tense atmosphere arose within the family. Rani says she grew up in a loveless family. “I was abused on several fronts: beaten, locked in a garden shed and several times I had to sleep in my father's bath or garage. Sometimes my father wouldn't talk to me for days. He said I couldn't do anything and was unmanageable,” says Rani.

The woman felt like she was being used as a showpiece all these years. Her adoptive parents already had two sons, but wanted another daughter. “A child from India was a hype at that time. I think my adoptive father saw me as a trophy. Like, look, I saved a girl from a poor country,” says Rani.

The arguments with the adoptive parents caused her to long more and more for her own biological mother. “Since I have children of my own, I notice how important it is to know who my parents are and where I was born. I would have no peace if I didn't know,” says Rani. She missed her biological mother very much and therefore wrote a moving song about her.

Last week, after sixteen years of no contact with her adoptive parents, Rani was told that her biological mother is still alive. “When I was 13, my parents went to India and heard from the children's home that my mother was still alive, but unmarried,” she says.

Her parents deliberately did not tell her because they thought Rani was not ready. “My adoptive parents hid this from me for years. They thought I would never look for my birth mother."

But Rani always suspected that her mother would still be alive. That is why she and her husband John set up a foundation a few months ago so that mothers in India can find their children and vice versa.

"My mother worked on a tea plantation."

The search for her mother is in full swing through the foundation. “I am now almost certain that my mother worked on a tea plantation and that I was taken care of by nuns,” says Rani. She and her husband John are also pleased with the recognition of the Joustra Committee, which investigated errors in intercountry adoptions. "Many mistakes may also have been made with Rani, we are now trying to find out," says John.

A number of board members are being sought for the Rani Foundation . “Without this board, the foundation cannot continue,” says Rani.