Two traveling monks reached a town where there was a young woman waiting to step out of her sedan chair. The rains had made deep puddles and she couldn’t step across without spoiling her silken robes. She stood there, looking very cross and impatient. She was scolding her attendants. They had nowhere to place the packages they held for her, so they couldn’t help her across the puddle. The younger monk noticed the woman, said nothing, and walked by. The

As a paediatrician, especially one who specialises in child development, I am often called upon to assess and support families through the adoption process. The main areas that a paediatrician can help with are two – (1) Pre – adoptive:  The initial assessment of medical reports of the child that prospective parents are given, and (2) Post-adoption: Clinical evaluation of the child and guidance to the parent regarding medical issues, growth, development, nutrition and immunisation. As a prospective adoptive parent

Adoption is a topic very close to my heart, not because we chose it but because it’s a beautiful medium to connect families. Gaurav and I were clear right from the beginning that we were going to have our baby through adoption.  Luckily, by the time we were ready to register, the process had become centralized under CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority), the new online process. After a lot of research, talking to as many  families as possible and informing

18 years ago, when I wanted to adopt, I knew no adoptive families. From agency selection to handling our baby, we went with intuition, luck and a lot of help from family and friends… none of whom knew exactly what we were experiencing. By the time we adopted our second one in 2010, we knew a few more adoptive parents. A few friends had adopted. But everyone lived in different cities and countries. Thanks to social media, we were connected,

One of the reasons parent preparation for adoption was never given importance in our country was probably because it was mostly infants going into waiting families. Today, adoption is not about infants only. There are older children who are getting adopted and some of these children might have experienced or witnessed physical, sexual and verbal abuse or physical and emotional neglect, they could have witnessed their mother being abused or any other reason. Adoption should not be entered into, until

Kavita Baluni, likes to be known as a ‘wanderer and mommy to Veda through adoption’. Leading by example and putting her experience to good use, Kavita devotes a lot of her time towards raising awareness on adoption and Down Syndrome. Known as the first couple in India to adopt a child with Down Syndrome, she is eager for many more to follow and is here on The Wonder Women World to share her experience and what she beautifully calls ‘a blessed life’

Continuing our theme for this week, Padme connected us with Smriti Gupta who is an Adoption Activitist and Counsellor. Through an informative Q&A session, Smriti sheds light on an aspect of adoption that is much ignored or rather, avoided. Yes, we are talking about Special needs adoption. What is special needs adoption? The adoption process in India puts children into two categories — normal and special needs — where special needs category is the catch-all for all children who may

Today, we would like to put the spotlight on Padme which works towards demystifying adoption and helps mitigate social conditioning which sometimes hamper the decision-making process. Padme seeks to make the whole adoption experience less overwhelming and provides a balanced approach while tackling concerns arising out of adoption. Gayatri Abraham, Founder of Padme (who you met yesterday right here on The Wonder Women World) gave me all the jaw dropping figures. She said that according to the latest report there

A unique feature where I interview two women. One a teacher, the other her student but both who are equally passionate about their profession. So much so that they partnered together to set up a performing arts organization in Singapore. Meet Bhupali Deshpande and Kumudha Panneerchelvam who share a common love – dance! Bhupali started her training in Kathak dance at the age of 7 years under the able guidance of Dr. Sadhana Naphade. She is a Statistician with a

It gives me immense pleasure to have this opportunity to lead conversations and engagement with our fabulous community and readers on a subject that drives me personally to look at the world and people with an open, unbiased mind free from the clutches of any expectations in return. There couldn’t be a better co-moderator than Rushabh Turakhia for me to partner with on Kindness , which is also his middle name and the way with which he drives The Kindness