Sunita Williams to adopt Gujarati girl

AHMEDABAD: During her last visit to Gujarat in September 2007, astronaut Sunita Williams had expressed shock over female feticide in the state. "Why should you allow the society to limit you by the virtue of your sex. Limitations are only in your mind," she had told a gathering of girls in Kadi town.

She plans to make her next visit to Gujarat - after she completes her space expedition - more meaningful.

Family members say Sunita has made up her mind to adopt a girl from Ahmedabad. The American-Indian astronaut's sister, Dina, has already started the process to adopt a daughter from an Ahmedabad-based organisation.

"Like her sister , Sunita too has expressed her wish to adopt a child, preferably a girl. We will start the spadework soon. She will start formalities after she returns from the expedition," says her Ahmedabad-based cousin Dinesh Rawal.

Sunita's father Deepak Pandya, a native of north Gujarat where the sex ratio is the most distorted in the state, says he often discusses the issue with his daughter. "It is up to Sunita and her husband to take a final decision. But, she has often expressed her desire to adopt a girl from Gujarat,"

Pandya, a doctor, told TOI over telephone from the US.

Sunita will take off on July 14 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a six-month space expedition, her second. While Sunita's contractual obligations with Nasa prohibited her from becoming part of any campaign, she had no problems with her father donning the T-shirt brought out by the TOI under the 'Save the Girl Child Campaign'.