Three nations unite to give Gujarat brothers new family

In the midst of the national lockdown and uncertainties arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, two young boys - 9 and 12 adopted from a specialised adoption agency in Gujarat are trying to settle down to the idea of a new family in their new home in Florence, Italy. This story would have been just another in the list of adoptions, but for the unusual circumstances that saw them stranded in Dubai for over four weeks after flying out of Mumbai on March 12. The long stay and unfamiliar surroundings saw one of the boys develop cold feet about travelling to a strange land, and this soon affected the other as well.

Yet, the time spent at Dubai allowed counsellors to convince the children to wait it out, telling them that the ban on flights meant no other options anyway. The parents were told to pay more attention and be more accommodating of their new wards, and slowly things worked out.

The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in Delhi took up the counselling in Gujarati and also arranged in-person interactions in Dubai. A visa was organised to enable the family to stay on in Dubai. The special counsellor used the time to help the children and parents bond. “The counselling and the time spent by the adoptive parents with the childrenworked and the children agreed to go to their new home,” CARA CEO Deepak Kumar said.


With no commercial flights operating, the authorities in Italy organised a private jet that brought them to Florence on April 18. Speaking to TOI over phone, Serena Alfare, the coordinator at the Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency in Italy, said they are following up with the family. “The children are settling down to knowing the house they had been seeing on video calls,” Alfare said.

The CARA CEO sees in this case as a rare coming together of three countries - India, the United Arab Emirates and Italy to facilitate the entire process under very difficult circumstances. There have been other challenges too. Some adoptive parents, stranded in India with the children handed over prior to the lockdown, reached out to CARA for expediting exit visas. In coordination with Foreign Regional Registration Office, CARA has issued five exit visas for children who managed to leave for the US, Italy and Malta by special flights organised by respective countries for the stranded citizens.