The wait for Kiwi woman Deryn Louise Menzies to become a mother has finally come to an end with the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, Kerala in India approving her application to adopt two little sisters on Wednesday, March 15.
Ms Menzies’ application to adopt two little sisters, Veni and Rani was scrutinised by officials of both the countries and Ms Menzies flew with her ‘two-daughters’ on earlier this week. The single mother from Napier has already made the arrangements to welcome the siblings to their ‘new’ home.
Ms Menzies, a music therapist, confided her intention to adopt two children with her close friend Elizabeth and chose India to be the destination for her hunt. Her search began almost five-years ago when she realised she had accomplished her dreams and is now ready to be a mother.
“I was a happy woman who had achieved all she aspired for and felt it was time to give back to society,” Ms Menzies said, adding that she chose India since it allowed single women to adopt.
Since her decision to adopt two young girls, she started the journey with convincing New Zealand authorities of her abilities to adopt and who made an official request to its Indian counterpart. The authorities then identified the adoption centre and children matching her profile. Ms Menzies also underwent training programmes gear herself for raise an adopted child.
Six-year-old Veni and her five-year-old sister Rani were introduced to Ms Denzies in November 2015, and she fell in love with the two sisters. Ms Menzies since then has bonded with the two children and had been sending them gifts and postcards from her travel.
Both Veni and Rani were issued Indian passports with temporary visas but has Ms Denzies full name as her official parent. Once the duo reach New Zealand, they will go through prior approved procedures, and their Indian passports will be converted to NZ Passports.
The two sisters will live at Ms Denzies’ farm house near Napier and grow amongst the beauty of the region surrounded by cows, grass and cheese.
Excited to welcome, the doting mother has already decorated the house and put new curtains in their rooms with the pictures of Elephants.
Ms Denzies is a bit apprehensive raising the two children is a very different culture and with a slight language concern as well, but is positive that will be resolved without much difficulty.
“It is a challenging task, but I hope to ensure that they stay in touch with their roots while adapting to life over there,” Ms Menzies added.
Currently, the girls in speak in their native language Malayalam and a bit of English such as keywords to communicate, while Ms Menzies has learnt a little bit of Malayalam too.