Happily adopted

Sometimes life comes full circle — something 33-year-old Mousami Damle would fully testify to, after she returned to the

city she was adopted from in 1979, by Non-Resident Indian couple Vijay and Vidya Damle.

Mousami is now the Vice President (Human Resources) of a New York-based advertising company, but returning to the place

that was her home before she found a loving family, she could barely hold back her tears. Today, Mousami knows that she too

may adopt a child someday, and give him or her a happy home.

(L-R) Vidya, Vijay, Sarang, his son Asher and Mousami

Damle

The NRI was just a week old when she came to the Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospital (SOFOSH). Barely two months

later, she was spotted by Vidya Damle, then 24, who was already mother to nine-month-old Sarang.

Sixty-seven-year-old Vidya said, “I was brought up in a convent school in Belgaum, surrounded by orphans looked after by

Church authorities. I always wondered why people didn’t adopt them and preferred to live without a child, missing out on

parental bliss. Since then, I knew I would adopt a child someday.”

“I wanted a girl, to complete my family. My husband and I came across a news article about the adoption process in India for

Canadian couples and we started exploring the options.

We decided to adopt from our home state. When I came to SOFOSH, I felt an instant connection with Mousami. They

conducted a home study, then the court gave me her guardianship for 10 days soon, all legal formalities were finished. The

adoption procedure was far easier then, than now,” Vidya added.

This is the fifth time Mousami has visited SOFOSH, and she has never given up the search for her biological mother as well,

keeping up a stream of letters and photographs. “Every time I come here, I leave behind something addressed to my

biological mother — but have received no response. I would like to meet her too someday, although I love my adopted

parents immensely,” said Mousami.

“I was 12 when I was first brought back to SOFOSH for a visit. I saw a mother crying for joy with a newly-adopted daughter

in her arms; another mother crying as she gave away her child to a better future,” described an emotional Mousami.

“Though I am yet to get married and settle down, I am definitely open to adoption today, to offer someone a better life. I think

that would be the best way to thank god for whatever I am today,” she added.

“The Damle’s were the first NRI couple to adopt a child from SOFOSH. They served as a role model for other couples

cautious about the genes and religion of the child. They proved to be a classic example of the fact that upbringing matters,

nothing else,” said Madhuri Abhyankar, director of SOFOSH.

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