Why I chose to adopt

Actress Jennifer Aniston sparked controversy recently when she said that, despite years of unsuccessful fertility treatment, she’s not interested in adopting a baby. Instead, she wants “my own DNA in a little person.”

Four women from India, the US and UK share their experiences of trying to have children by several different routes. Sometimes, their choices bring judgement.

Imogen, in the UK, always wanted to adopt, yet family and friends asked: “Why are you not going to go down the IVF route?”

Margaret, a mother in India, has both a biological son and an adoptive daughter. She felt an instant connection with the baby girl and has never regretted the decision. Yet everyone tried to dissuade her and her husband from adoption. There have been challenges, she says, but they have been able to overcome them together.

“For me, adoption has been a very beautiful experience,” says Margaret, and wishes it was more common in India.

Her daughter Shika, now 26, joins two other adult adoptive children for our second conversation. They discuss what it was like growing up and how being adopted has affected them personally as well as the relationship with their parents.

Presenter: Luke Jones
BBC producers: Iqra Farooq
Boffin Media producer: Anne McNaught
Editors: Arja Haikonen and Harriet Oliver
A Boffin Media production in partnership with BBC OS

(Photo: Shika and Margaret, who feature in our conversation. Credit: Margaret)