Someone just sent me a link to this adoption documentary titled, "Forget the Past". This documentary looks at international adoption of children in India by families in India, Denmark and the United States.

The film was produced and directed by Sarah Brandt Talreja, who was born in India, adopted internationally and transracially at a very young age, raised in Denmark and is currently living in Los Angeles. The film was created to show what life is like in orphanages in India to give prospective adoptive parents a better understanding of where their children are coming from. The film looks at the adoption process from both the child's point of view and the adoptive parents' point of view.

In Sarah Brandt Talreja's own words about the documentary:

Adoption is such a beautiful alternative to abolishing a pregnancy and it creates a family for those who are unfortunate and can not have children. My hope is for viewers to experience the alternative and see all the beautiful miracles that lay within the adoption process. Those who are skeptical will open their hearts and at least be comforted by the knowledge that they have gained. My underlying objective is for those who read and watch my film will have a much better understanding for adoption, the process, and what India is really like.

The name of the documentary and the accompanying book stem from a popular saying in India.

You can read more about the book here. The book looks at the author's journey back to India to find out about the country of her birth. It includes her personal journal, gorgeous photos and looks at the challenges, joys and questions that many adoptees and their adoptive families experience.

I was immediately interested in this project for several reasons. For one, I always like to read adoption stories from the point of view of an adult transracial adoptee. Secondly, a tiny piece of my heart will always be in India. After Josh and I had adopted Maggie and Amanda (and had our three biological sons), we fell in love with a special needs little girl in India.

She was three years old and had some significant limb differences that she was born with. We had pictures and videos of her that showed her huge eyes, her flashing smile and her persistent yet happy personality. We chose a name for her and considered her ours. We accepted the referral and did months of paperwork. We arranged medical care and surgeries for her at Shriner's Children's Hospital. I dreamed of traveling to India, and joined the India international adoption communities online.

A few months after we accepted the referral, we got the heartbreaking news from our agency that the Indian government would not allow us to adopt her because they felt our family was "too large". I was so very sad. Although she did end up getting another family several months down the road and we did end up adopting our Marcus, Mercy and Des later the next year (and we knew that it had all worked out how it was supposed to), it was still a very real loss for me to have to let go of the idea of being her mom. A part of me will always "miss" our opportunity to adopt from India, and I will always have a heart for the many special needs children who are waiting for families.

You can see the Forget the Past Blog here and you can see a trailer for the documentary here. The documentary showed in two locations this fall and there are no other locations or dates announced for future showings, however I will continue to check the blog for updates. Make sure you take a look at the web page featuring the beautiful children that are featured in the documentary.