Did 'Lion effect' inspire Australian green light on India adoptions?

Source: www.sbs.com.au

The family who inspired the Hollywood film Lion say their story may have contributed to the Australian government's decision this week to reverse a ban on adoptions from India.

"I think maybe the movie ended up getting into the hearts of those bureaucrats to open those gates again," Saroo Brierley, played by Dev Patel in the 2016 film, told SBS News.

Dev Patel

Dev Patel in Lion.

Transmission

As a child in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Mr Brierley became separated from his brother and got lost on a train which took him thousands of miles across India.

Children at an orphanage at Sooch Village in Jharkhand.

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He was eventually adopted by an Australian couple and raised in Hobart, and later embarked on an extraordinary mission to find his birth mother using Google Maps.

At the time the film was released, Australians were no longer allowed to adopt children from India due to concerns about child trafficking. On Tuesday the government gave the green light for them to resume, lifting an eight-year suspension.

Sunny Pawar Dev Patel Saroo Brierley

Actors Dev Patel, from left, and Sunny Pawar pose with Saroo Brierley at the premiere of the film, "Lion," in New York.

AAP Image/Marion Curtis/StarPix via AP

Mr Brierley's adopted mother Sue said she hopes other Australian parents will soon be able to experience the same joy she experienced.

"I hope that there is such a thing as 'the Lion effect'," she said.

"I truly believe what I felt is no different to any other mothers when they lay eyes on their child."

Sue Brierley and her adopted son Saroo

Sue and Saroo Brierley welcomed the government's decision.

SBS News

Ms Brierley said she believed the India adoption programs should never have been shut down and urged the government to provide more support for local and overseas adoptions.

"We're a family like any other, we've had hard times, good times but we've had the family of our choice.

"A lot of parents haven't been allowed that choice and I'm sad for them because I believe there would have been a lot of families wishing to adopt and adopting if they could have by Australian laws."

Adoption hopefuls

Within two days of the government announcing the resumption of adoptions from India, Sydney couple Elizabeth and Adam Brook had already filed their paperwork.

"This afternoon, I'll be emailing off our forms to get the ball rolling so we're top of the list, so to speak," Ms Brook told SBS News.

Elizabeth and Adam Brook outside the house of a famous Bollywood actor.

Elizabeth and Adam Brook.

Supplied.

The couple have been married for two years and share a love for India.

Mr Brook, who speaks Hindi, said they considered other adoption options, but decided to hold off.

"We just have such a strong cultural connection with India having travelled there on several occasions. It’s one of those situations where once your heart's set on something you don’t want to give that up. It just kept coming back to India."

The Upcrofts on a family holiday.

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Ms Brook, who has polycystic ovarian syndrome, said she fell in love with India as a teenager after watching a Bollywood film on SBS and always wanted to be a mother:

"I've always wanted children, we both have. As a kid I wanted a house full, I wanted four."

Mr Brook said: "The last two years have been a little bit difficult with things being on hold, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. We're looking forward to getting the process started and starting a family of our own very soon."

Countries: Australia