INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Jane Radika was searching for answers
Approaching 50, she had become reflective about life and yearned to know more about the circumstances of her adoption, from an orphanage in
From what I have learned, my mum gave birth to me in the Mother Teresa orphanage in Dhaka
She was adopted in 1972 by a British family and has travelled to Dhaka to find out about her birth
Photograph: Alexander Turner/The GuardianJane knew almost nothing of Bangladesh growing up and online searches got her only so far
She felt drawn to visit, but the pandemic and personal circumstance had made the prospect seem distant
I was adopted into the UK from Bangladesh in 1972 by a British family
I want to know if there are others out there like me
1970s, many on their own search for the truth
Most had little or no information about the circumstances of their adoption or birth parents
Except for one unifying detail.Bangladesh was declared an independent state in December 1971, nine months after Pakistan launched a brutal
crackdown on Bengalis seeking self-rule in what was then East Pakistan
million.The Bangladesh war was one of the bloodiest of the 20th century
As many as 3 million people were killed
said to have been victims.The result was thousands of babies; again estimates vary, but 25,000 pregnancies are thought to have resulted
Women who had been captured by Pakistani troops, raped and tortured, emerged traumatised, in desperate need of medical care and, in many
Fifteen of them were allowed for adoption and flown to Canada through a team led by Fred and Bonnie Cappuccino.To integrate rape survivors
back into society, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, prime minister and founding father of Bangladesh, introduced legislation to allow late-term
abortions and passed the Abandoned Children order, making the Ministry of Social Welfare statutory guardian for children born of rape
the conflicting experiences of those who endured forced pregnancy at the hands of Pakistani soldiers
made to undergo abortions
Mike King and his wife had been trying to adopt a child in Britain when, one February morning, they read an article in the Guardian by the
late Peter Preston describing the crisis of abandoned babies in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, February 1972
Photograph: The GuardianBy July, King was on his way to Bangladesh to adopt a daughter
He agreed to escort another baby back on behalf of a couple who were unable to travel due to illness
A UN representative vetted King and helped him navigate the emergent adoption system
He found himself in the courtyard of the Mother Teresa orphanage in Old Dhaka, holding two red baby carriers, waiting to be processed by the
wicker cradles, each holding a baby
Some were being fed while others were being changed: one was on a saline rehydration drip
King instinctively felt the need to choose her, the youngest in the nursery
The babies were so small he only needed one of the carriers for both.Jane Radika looks at old photographs from her childhood Photograph:
and the babies boarded the long flight back to the UK.That year, thousands of war babies were adopted in countries including Sweden,
Denmark, Norway and Canada
It is estimated that 5,000 were born, though the true figure is likely much higher
After the war, the sisters of the Mother Teresa orphanage would search the streets of Dhaka for abandoned babies and turn up at abortion
clinics asking mothers to go through with pregnancies and hand unwanted babies to the orphanage
Many of the babies did not survive or were considered too frail to travel abroad.As King arrived in Dhaka, he was told that a plane carrying
the first war babies to leave the country had just left for Canada
Shikha Cappuccino, 51, was among them.Shikha Cappuccino in Ottawa
She was among the first war babies to be taken to Canada from Bangladesh
Photograph: Jo-Anne McArthur/The GuardianHers is a remarkable survival story
In the aftermath of the war, women would often take abortion into their own hands if they could not, or were too fearful, to access a clinic
When Fred and Bonnie Cappuccino, missionaries arranging adoptions for families at home in Canada, heard about Shikha, they decided to adopt
Photograph: Jo-Anne McArthur/The GuardianThe Cappuccinos transported 15 babies from the orphanage; the first time an Air India flight had
carried so many unaccompanied infants
Cappuccino with her mother, Bonnie
Photograph: Jo-Anne McArthur/The GuardianNot everyone feels the same
Kohinoor Nordberg, who was adopted by a Norwegian couple.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Global DispatchGet a different world view
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We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionNordberg
was not a newborn when she reached the orphanage and remembers her mother
According to the nuns, she was found abandoned on the streets of Dhaka.Kohinoor Nordberg in Norway
Photograph: Anne-Stine Johnsbraaten/The GuardianNo one knows her birthdate, though her adoption certificate says she was three years and
four months in 1976, when she was adopted
before she was adopted is unreliable
For a long time she referred to herself as a war baby, and this could be true as adoption from Bangladesh was still happening in 1976 even
Pieces, a book about what happened to adopted Bangladeshi children in Canada
Photograph: Anne-Stine Johnsbraaten/The GuardianThe Abandoned Children order was specifically to allow the speedy passage of babies to
It was common for children of three, four and five to be adopted abroad.Nordberg knows little about her life before she arrived in Norway
Photograph: Farzana Hossen/The GuardianTwo years after she first asked for help to find other war babies, Jane finally visited Bangladesh
Although, technically it was her second time in the country, everything felt new
And the trip has answered lots of questions
ago, and was greeted by senior missionary nun Sister Xavier
After some initial small talk, Jane asked to see her records
The nuns appeared reluctant at first but then left the room
Photograph: Farzana Hossen/The GuardianThere were names of a number of babies listed as having gone to Canada and Jane gasped as she found
her own, recorded neatly in blue ink
The sisters crowded round excitedly, but Jane felt only relief
This confirms I am a war baby and that I was indeed here, at this orphanage in Bangladesh, once upon a time
Jane.Afterwards, Jane wandered through the orphanage and visited the room where Mike King saw her in her crib
There were other babies there, orphans or abandoned children
Mother Teresa Orphanage, in the same room she once occupied
Photograph: Farzana Hossen/The GuardianWalking from room to room, a young boy shyly approached her to play
The two sat together for a little while and took selfies on her phone.Later, Jane also visited a group of Birangona women living in Tejgaon,
In a small house, she was introduced as the daughter of a Birangona to three elderly women who were waiting
The women began to cry as they took it in turns to embrace Jane, who was also crying
These are traditional Bengali delicacies that Jane was trying for the first time
hour or so, it is time to go
Though brief, it was an encounter filled with mutual love and respect between strangers, a remarkable moment of bonding over a tragic shared
experience.Jane embraces a nun as she leaves the Mother Teresa Orphanage in Old Dhaka, where she was adopted as a newborn in 1972
Connected and never forgotten
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
