Indian Muslim author wins recognition for book on adopted children
Lucknow writer Sumbul Siddiqui turned her own discovery of being adopted into decade-long writing project calling for adopted children to receive equal love and rights
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — An Indian Muslim author who discovered only in adulthood that she had been adopted has received international recognition for a book drawing on her experience to advocate equal treatment and acceptance of adopted children.
Sumbul Siddiqui, a 28-year-old writer from Lucknow in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state, had her name entered in the Book of World Records for Echoes of Resilience, a book exploring the experiences and rights of adopted children. She received a certificate recognizing her work on Aug. 8.
At the heart of the book is a deeply personal experience. Siddiqui said she was 23 when she learned that the parents who had raised her were not her biological parents.
Both had already died by the time she made the discovery.
Rather than changing how she viewed them, Siddiqui said the revelation made her reflect on the love and acceptance she had received growing up and eventually shaped the message she wanted to convey through her writing.
Her book argues that adoption should mean more than providing a child with a home. Adopted children, she says, should receive the same affection, care, acceptance and rights within a family as biological children.
Echoes of Resilience draws partly on Siddiqui’s own life while seeking to bring greater attention to the emotional experiences of adopted children and the discrimination they can encounter within families.
The recognition marks the culmination of a writing project that began nearly a decade ago.
Siddiqui said she started working on the book about 10 years ago, while pursuing ambitions outside literature. She had dreamed of becoming a chartered accountant since childhood but also developed an interest in reading and writing that eventually led her toward becoming an author.
She has since written two books and has also worked in education and early childhood care.
The citation accompanying her recognition praised her work as an author and educator, as well as her efforts to make education more creative and accessible and support underprivileged children.
For Siddiqui, however, the recognition is closely tied to the personal story behind Echoes of Resilience and the years she spent developing it.
Now living in Lucknow, she says she hopes her writing can persuade families that bringing an adopted child into their home should never leave that child with fewer rights, less affection or a weaker sense of belonging than a biological child.
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