Was adopted and has to arrange her biological father's funeral in India: “How can this be?
INTERVIEW
Rani T'Kindt was adopted and has to arrange her biological father's funeral in India: “How is this possible?”
Rani T'Kindt was adopted from India as a toddler by Belgian parents. This week, she was contacted by Indian authorities, who asked her to arrange her biological father's funeral. "How did they end up with me?"
Veerle Beel
November 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Last Saturday, the biological father of Rani T'Kindt (46) from Ghent passed away in India. To her great surprise, she was contacted by authorities in India earlier this week, who asked her for permission so that the man's body could be released from the hospital.
I find that very strange and confusing, since I have no legal connection with my biological father. That has been severed since my adoption here in Belgium. My adoptive parents are wonderful people. My real father, to me, is Armand T'Kindt, the man who did everything for me and whom I loved very much. He died in 2012.
An Indian police officer asked for her address, phone number, and national identification number. "I don't understand how that could happen," says T'Kindt. "How did they track me down? It's illogical and disturbing. Officially, I shouldn't have any legal connection with my biological father in India anymore. Unless my adoption in India isn't properly registered or recognized. In that case, it's not an administrative error, but a system error."
Mother Teresa
T'Kindt was one of many children from India who came to Belgium through Father Delooz, founder of the adoption agency De Vreugdezaaiers. He worked with Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun who rescued children from the streets in India and gave them shelter. "I call her 'the hypocrite,'" says T'Kindt, "because for her congregation, children were primarily a source of income. My adoption has always been presented as a rescue story, but there are clear inconsistencies in the documents and procedures. This is because I wasn't relinquished correctly; I was kidnapped."
I started looking for my biological parents myself, without any help from any organizations or agencies in Belgium. In 1998, I found them and saw them again. They didn't understand adoption. They thought I was coming back for good. It was the second worst day of their lives. They already had a dowry and sari for me, and they had already chosen a groom.
She was able to reconstruct the story of her abduction based on their testimonies. “My mother worked as a cook in an orphanage run by Mother Teresa’s congregation. She lived on the streets because my father had abandoned her. I was their only child, and because I was a girl, my father abandoned her. He did come back later, but by then I was already gone.”
The nurses told my biological mother: the street is no place for such a young child, let her spend the night here. At one point, she had to sign a document with her thumb; she thought it was part of her job. So she signed a waiver. It was a shock for her when I suddenly disappeared. I was one and a half years old. She immediately started looking for me.
After that first trip, T'Kindt traveled to India twice more. "The last time was in 2018, with my daughter June, who was six at the time. My biological mother was seriously ill, and I wanted her to meet her only granddaughter. I have a beautiful photo as a memento: June and my biological father looking into the lens, my mother and I looking at each other. She died four months later. Afterward, I asked my father in India several times for a sari of hers as a keepsake. I never received one."
And now, after he's passed away, am I suddenly a daughter of India again? Now the authorities are knocking on my door. How did they find me?
Tss
T'Kindt has already raised her concerns with the Indian embassy in Belgium. She also reported the incident to the Flemish Centre for Adoption (VCA), where they are equally speculating: perhaps the adoption in India wasn't properly registered? T'Kindt: "It would be strange if that were the case. Imagine if all adopted children had to reckon with the possibility of being notified one day of the death of their biological parents. I hope the VCA or another agency will thoroughly investigate this. Someone should explain to me how this is possible. There's still far too little transparency about the role of the adoption agencies back then."
In the meantime, she has already transferred 100 euros (10,000 rupees) to settle the matter on the spot. "A biological cousin of mine advanced the amount in India. I repaid him—out of respect and humanity, not because I was legally obligated to. At the same time, this also closes this chapter of my life. It feels like an umbilical cord that has now been completely severed. It also gives me the opportunity to process all those complex feelings surrounding loss and adoption. Adoption saved my life, many people say. But sometimes it still feels like a piece of my life has been stolen."