‘From Surat street to US home’: Gujarati-American couple adopts 2 Tribal children

A Gujarati-American couple settled in New York has adopted two tribal children from an adoption centre in Surat’s Katargam area, officials said.

The childless couple, who work in financial institutions in the United States,  applied with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) expressing their wish to adopt children nearly three years ago.

After a long wait, the couple received a proposal and, after reviewing the photographs online, they picked the siblings –  a 5-year-old boy and his 3-year-old sister, officials said.

The siblings and her mother ended up in the streets of Surat after her second husband allegedly abandoned them, sources said.
Two months ago, the American couple came to Surat and met both the children. The couple later decided to adopt them. They returned to Surat on Monday (November 9) to complete the legal formalities.

On Thursday, the  siblings were taken to the Surat district collectorate and in the presence of District Collector Tejas Parmar, the boy and his sister were handed over to the couple.

“The US couple has completed all the procedures under CARA norms, and they were eager to adopt the siblings. The Delhi office of CARA also had verified the whereabouts and other credentials of the couple. Now, the district collector will help the couple get birth certificates of both the children and their passports,” said Surat Child Protection Officer Vijay Parmar.

“The siblings came to us through an NGO, Bharatiya Gau Raksha Manch, and police. The children were accompanied by their mother. The mother told us that she wanted to surrender her two children at the Special Adoption agency. We took her written permission for adoption in June 2025. As per law, we waited for two months to check whether she would change her mind. Later, we have put up the details of both these siblings on CARA website for adoption,” Parmer said.

Story continues below this ad

According to Bharatiya Gau Raksha Manch president Dharmesh Gami, who claimed to have rescued the kids, the mother of the children is from Tapi district.

“The woman, belonging to the tribal community, first married a man from her village and they had a child.  Later, due to regular quarrels, they got separated, and the child stayed with their grandparents. The woman came down to Surat and started doing petty jobs. While working at a construction site, she came in contact with a native of Uttar Pradesh. They got married and the couple had two children (the boy and girl). Due to unknown reasons, her second husband left her and went back to his native place and did not return. The couple was staying in a rented place in Surat, and after he left, she faced financial difficulties, as a result of which she was forced to leave her rented house and stay on the roadside in the Bhatar area,” Gami said.

“We came across the family staying on the roadside and the mother told us  she had no money to take care of the children and that her parents also refused to accept the siblings.

We counselled her and later took her to the Special Adoption Agency at Katargam through the police. Later, she gave her consent for adoption and now the US couple has adopted the children,” said Gami. The said woman could not be reached.

Story continues below this ad

Sources said the new parents took the children with them to Mumbai. After completing the legal formalities, the children, officials said, will fly to the US, along with their new parents.