Learning about other countries and their customs and laws surely puts things in perspective. Another recent story out of India tells about forbidden love, unplanned pregnancy, an "almost" adoption and a happy ending. I mean, two happy endings on the birth parent blog in one week? It's kind of crazy up in here.

You see, it starts out with Manju, the mother in question. It turns out she is a (child-bride) widow. Her community forbids widows to marry again. (I'm curious as to whether non-widows are allowed to remarry, aren't you?) Well, she falls in love with Govardhan. You know what comes of forbidden love, right? It feels very Romeo and Juliet but with Indian theme music. And a pregnancy.

Yes, as you figured, Manju ended up pregnant. A widow, pregnant at twenty, in a community where she wasn't allowed to marry the man that she loved. Now those sound like some serious problems all working against the mother. Apparently she thought so as well because she ended up abandoning her newborn baby girl in a public toilet. Safe Haven laws don't exist in India.

It gets more interesting. Plot twists indeed!

The doctor at the hospital, Dr. Thakkar, decides that he and his wife will adopt the baby! Already parents to four girls, they thought a fifth would be a great addition to their family.

“The baby was so vulnerable and cute. We didn’t want her to go to an orphanage. So we decided to adopt her,” say Hitesh and Yamini. They have four daughters, aged between eight to one-and-a-half years, of whom two are adopted.

But wait! More plot twists!

At the time that they decide to initiate the adoption, both Manju and Govardhan are located by police. And arrested, of course. When Thakkar and his wife heard that they had been located, they dropped the adoption proceedings.

But wait! It doesn't end there!

Thakkar bailed the mother and father out of jail. After that, the couple was counseled by Thakkar's wife. A week later, Manju and Govardhan were wed. At Thakkar's house. In fact, the baby naming ceremony (naamkaran) was held at their house along with all of the pre-wedding ceremony events.

The mind really boggles at times.

I've told two stories this week, both near-adoption-misses, from a country that seems to take care of its own. It's simultaneously encouraging and discouraging. We (United States-ians) like to think that we're the most civilized among all of countries in the world. And yet this country has shown us up twice in one week. Citizens have stepped up to the plate and helped families in need. Mind you, this is also in a country where unwed motherhood is viewed with much more stigma than in our country. (Not saying our country is kind to unwed mothers but, well, you don't want to be an unwed mother in India.)

I am, in no way, supporting the decision to abandon a child in any place, let alone a toilet. This family is lucky, beyond measure, that the child is alive and well. I am questioning, however, why other countries are more prone to protect the family unit while we are so quick to tear it apart. It's interesting indeed.

Congrats to the new family!

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For more, read:

1. MOther and Daughters to Stay Together.

2. A Mother's Heart in India.

3. Japanese Baby Hatch.

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Photo Credit: Ajay Singh.