Adopted at 3, woman returns to India 40 years later to meet sick birth mother

It was an emotional moment for Nilakshi Elizabeth Jorendal, the India-born Swedish national, as she met her ailing biological mother in Yavatmal. 

Nilakshi (44), who was adopted by a Swedish couple when she was three-year-old, had managed to trace her biological mother through Anjali Pawar of Pune-based NGO - Against Child Trafficking.

"It was an emotional reunion on Saturday at the government hospital in Yavatmal. The mother-daughter duo broke into tears," Pawar told PTI. "Nilakshi, who was on a mission to trace her biological parents, had met her mother briefly earlier but this was a more elaborate, public reunion," she said. 

On her own Facebook wall, Nilakshi wrote - "In the beginning of this year, I was asked by a person to write down what I wished for the most in my life. I remember I wrote "To see my mother in India again" on a piece of paper. In August my wish came true when ACT (founder) Arun Dohle and Anjali Pawar found my mother; in September I went to India and was reunited with my mother, after 42 years of separation. It is so huge so it still feels surreal. Totally incredible! A true miracle!"

Nilakshi biological father, a farm labourer, had committed suicide in 1973, the year she was born at Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission's shelter-and-adoption home in Kedgaon near Pune. 

Nilakshi's mother had left her there and later remarried and has a son and daughter from the second marriage. They too were present at the hospital on Saturday, Pawar said. The centre gave Nilakshi in adoption to a Swedish couple in 1976. 

"Nilakshi had been visiting India since 1990 to trace her biological mother. She visited India six times for this," Pawar said. 

Both the mother and daughter suffer from thalassemia, she said, adding, "During the meeting on Saturday, she assured her biological mother's kin of all help in her treatment.

• Nilakshi
• India
• Sweden
• Adoption