Just months after telly couple Gurmeet and Debina became proud parents to two adoptive girls, another couple has followed suit.
Small screen's blue-eyed couple Mahhi Vij and husband Jay Bhanushali marked their seventh wedding anniversary by formally becoming adoptive parents to their caretaker's son and daughter.
Although the Balika Vadhu actor addresses them as her niece and nephew she has taken over the role of a mother for the two.
"They are our kids"
Vij revealed her new status recently when she shared with a daily, "A lot of people keep asking my friends if they are our kids because we feel that they are our kids. We want to give them best in our capabilities. I don't care what people say they have all the time in the world to talk. They stay with us we have no issues of them being a part of our space. Kids are adorable, Jay and I love them."
The telly couple plan to raise the two as as their own, and have already charted a plan.
"We want to educate them and yes in future even if we have our own kids we will give them same life. We will not differentiate," says Vij.
A post shared by Jay Bhanushali (@ijaybhanushali) on
"We want to give them best of everything"
But adoption hasn't put off their plan to become biological parents. Vij clarifies that while they are content with being parents to their caretaker's kids, they do plan to start a family sometime in the future.
"As of now, I'm concentrating on my career. We are not planning to start a family now because we want to earn something or show the world how good we are. It is our inner soul which makes us do so," said Vij.
"We want to give them best of everything just like we would want to give it our own kids," she added.
Interestingly, this is not the first time the couple has taken over the care of their subordinate's child. In 2015, Bhanushali took over the financial responsibility of his assistant's daughter Khushi giving himself the title of 'abba.'
In doing so, this telly couple have joined the league of various celebrities who became adoptive parents and raised the kids as their own. Case in point, single mum Sushmita Sen and Raveena Tandon.
But adoption in India is a slightly long-drawn process, however, if you are considering this option, here's what you need to keep in mind.
Adoption rules in India
The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has some strict rules of adoption in India. In fact, they have specifically listed the procedure of adoption on their official website. But here's what you basically need to know:
- Any Indian or Non-residential Indian (NRI) can adopt a child. This is if they are physically, mentally and emotionally stable, financially capable, motivated to adopt a child, and do not have any life-threatening medical condition.
- Marital status and previous children are not a bar, but a single male cannot adopt a girl child.
- Married couple who have had a stable relationship for more than two years, can adopt a child.
- The minimum difference of age between the child and the adoptive parents should be 25 years.
- The total cumulative age of the parents should not be more than 110 years and if its a single parent then the age cannot exceed 55 years.
Also read: New law will allow adoption by kin! But here are 5 most important adoption rules
(All images courtesy: Instagram)
