Kristen Williams, 44, from Cincinnati, adopted little Durga after a number of couples refused her because insects had eaten away her nose when she was abandoned at birth.
But Durga has now started a new life in Ohio with her eight-year-old sister Munni, whom Kristen also adopted from India in 2012.
Kristen Williams, a teacher from Ohio, adopted little Durga, who was abandoned at birth, causing her nose to be eaten by insects.
Kristen said: “I look at my girls and I’m so happy. I had set out to adopt a child, but this journey has brought me so much more. I feel so much love for my girls. They’re my world, and I can’t wait to start our lives together. To call them my family just fills me with joy.”
Kristen, who is still single, having never met the right man, started her adoption journey in Nepal in 2010. But the following year, the US suddenly suspended all adoptions with the country.
So Kristen was introduced to India and very quickly came across little Munni, who had been in an orphanage since 2009.
She said: “I was looking through the lists and lists of children up for adoption on my computer screen from an agency, and there were just so many. It was heartbreaking to see how many girls need a loving home in India. But I suddenly felt this pull for this little girl.
“Her name was Munni, and she was just five years old at the time. I don’t know what it was, but we connected. I just knew she was my daughter. I felt we had to be together, and I got the ball rolling.”
Durga was abandoned at birth, and since then, many parents have rejected her because of her deformity.
Kristen says that she has taken some time off work so that she can help both Durga and Munni settle into their new home.
Over the next two years, Kristen was put through paperwork and court processes in order to adopt Munni, but she never gave up.
“I knew I wanted Munni in my life, so I did everything in my power to make it happen,” she added. “I wasn’t giving up on her no matter how long it took.”
Eventually, in December 2012, Kristen met Munni for the first time.
Kristen came to know that Munni had a scar on her forehead in the shape of a horseshoe, but no one could tell her how it got there. Munni was quiet and withdrawn, but Kristen felt nothing but love for her.
