Child adoption has always had its taboos attached with it and been a topic of social relevance. Vidya Balan, who now hosts a radio show on 92.7 BIG FM, Dhun Badal Ke Toh Dekho, took it up for discussion and invited celebrity guests Sunny Leone and Raveena Tandon to be a part of it.

Both Sunny Leone and Raveenda Tandon have adopted children, and they shared their experience of why and how they arrived at that decision.

Speaking about how she came around to adopting her daughter Neesha, Sunny Leone said, “I adopted a beautiful little girl from Latur in 2017. I have always wanted to adopt right from the time I was young. I just knew I wanted to. It’s a feeling I’ve had for a very long time. I can’t even explain this connection and put it across through words. I can tell you the moment I looked at this little girl and she looked up at me and she smiled, I simply melted. I was in tears and I knew that she was going to be my little girl.”

She also confessed that even after trying surrogacy for a year and half and not succeeding, she and Daniel, her husband, decided to go for adoption. For Leone, the hardest part about adoption is “finding the right partner who will take the journey with you”. “Wanting a family is something that you have to want. It’s not something that somebody can force on you.”

A self acknowledged “mommy geek”, Sunny has read almost everything when it comes to parenting and shared that she and her husband as parents were trying their best to bring up Neesha and her two brothers who came after her in the best possible manner.

Raveena Tandon, who adopted two girls even before she got married, spoke of her journey as a single mother.

“As a child, I accompanied my mother to social organisations and orphanages and when I saw these little children, I’d ask if we could take them home. Incidentally, when I turned 21, there were these two girls, who were my cousin’s children. They had unfortunately lost their parents and I decided these two girls deserve a better life. I first became their legal guardian and then eventually adopted them. That is the process that I went through and I think that is the most beautiful thing I’ve done in my life.”

The episode aired on 92.7 BIG FM where Vidya Balan explored other aspects of adoption. Proud mother Sunny Leone showed off her daughter’s singing skills.

Dhun Badal Ke Toh Dekho airs every weekday evening from 7pm to 9pm, with repeats on Saturday and Sunday.