Meet The US Woman Who Adopted 5 Girls From India

"I started creating this mosaic when I was 39, at 51 it's complete," says Kristen Grae Williams

At the age of 39, Kristen Grae Williams decided to adopt a baby. "I always dreamt of being a mom and just because I didn't have a partner, I didn't want to miss out," the Cincinnati resident told Humans of Bombay in an interview published yesterday on the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child. Although plagued with doubts about being a single mother, Ms Williams soon realised that any child would be happier at home than at an orphanage. 

But being a "single female" restricted her options, so the American woman started exploring international adoptions. "I applied to Nepal, paid 28,000 dollars and even got accepted, but when the US department of State suspended adoptions from Nepal, I was heartbroken," she revealed.

Having lost the money she had put up, Kristen Williams prayed for a miracle. Then one day, she received a call from an adoption agency in India, which told her that she had been cleared for adoption from the country, but only if she adopted a child with special needs. 

Ms Williams says the call left her overwhelmed, but she soon received a second phone call - this one from her mother. "I took a deep breath and said, 'Mom, I'm going to be a mom to a special baby!' In that split second, I had made my decision," she said.