Five Bollywood Women Who Embraced Motherhood By Saying Yes To Adoption

Bollywood foster mothers: Motherhood can be an incredible experience for women when it is their choice. However, not every woman who desires to be a mother wants to give birth. Many may choose alternative ways such as adoption or surrogacy.

It is not easy for  a woman to go against the social norms and opt for an unconventional path to become a mother. But several women from the entertainment industry have set examples by choosing to go for methods other than becoming biological mothers. Recently, actor-environmentalist Raveena Tandon announced that she became a nani in hers 40s.

Read on to know more about these Bollywood moms who said yes to adoption.

5 Bollywood foster mothers who adopted children

1. Raveena Tandon

At the age of 21, Raveena Tandon adopted two daughters Pooja and Chaaya. This was way before she gave birth to Rasha and Ranbir. She did face plenty of judgements for her decision but remained unaffected. Tandon believes that raising them felt like 'living with two young sisters'. The actor used to visit orphanages with her mother. When her cousin passed away he left behind his daughters. Tandon didn't like the way the guardian treated them so she brought them home with her. She is a big advocate of adoption.

Both her daughters are now mothers themselves and the actor is a grandmother. Talking about it, she said in an interview, "Technically, the minute that word comes, people think you're 70-80 years old. When I had taken my girls I was 21, and my eldest was 11. We actually just have an 11-year gap between us. She's had her baby, so she's more like a friend, but technically, I am a mom-like figure to her in her life. That's what equates to being a grandmom, so that's how it is."

PC: Raveena Tandon/Instagram

2. Sushmita Sen

The former Miss Universe and actor is one of the most inspiring Bollywood foster mothers. Sushmita Sen adopted her first child, Alisah at the age of 25 and had to face a long legal battle for it. In 2010, she adopted Renee. Sen believes adoption to have been her 'wisest decision'. It stabilised her life. "People think it was a great act of charity and wonderful action but it was self-preservation. It was me protecting myself," she said in an interview. Check out Alisah's essay, Adopt a child but out of love in the tweet below.

Adopt a child but out of love, says @thesushmitasen's daughter. #SheThePeople pic.twitter.com/tBZZOhItfg

— SheThePeople (@SheThePeople) April 6, 2021

3. Mandira Bedi

Mandira Bedi made to the list of Bollywood foster mothers in July last year when she and her husband Raj Kaushal adopted a girl. They named her Tara. Taking to Instagram, Bedi shared, "She has come to us like a blessing from above. Our little girl, Tara." She revealed the news almost three months after the adoption because one is not supposed to make it public until the completion of the legal procedures. Bedi says that her adopted daughter is naughty, fun and feels comfortable with her and her family. The couple also has a son named Vir.

4. Sunny Leone

Sunny Leone and her husband Daniel Weber adopted a daughter, Nisha in 2017 from the Latur district of Maharashtra. In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Leone said that she and Weber will not keep Nisha's adoption a secret from her. She will know the fact that her mother did not abandon her but bore her for nine months. But she feels connected to the girl's soul. A year after adopting Nisha, she became a mother to the twin sons Asher and Noah through surrogacy, thereby challenging norms yet another time.

PC: Sunny Leone Instagram

5. Neelam Kothari

Actors Neelam Kothari and Sameer Soni tied the knot in 2011 and were deprived of parenthood for quite some time. The couple decided to embrace adoption and they welcomed a daughter. "Sameer doesn't have a sister, his is an all-boys family. I feel girls are best for their parents," said Kothari in an interview. They named their adopted daughter Ahana.