It will not be unfair to say that what has given an impetus to adoption by single women has been adoptions by celebrity single women like Sushmita Sen and Raveena Tandon (who adopted two girls before her marriage).

Take the case of Kolkata-based senior HR consultant Rakhee Khanna. As soon as she heard the news of Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie's adoption of Zahara in 2005, Khanna, 36, went looking for her own daughter. Today, she is happy that she found seven-month-old Nikki. Celebrity adoptions have been in the news lately, with adoptions by the likes of Jolie and Brad Pitt even sparking off a debate in sections of the international media. Some believe that adoption, a serious and lifelong responsibility, is in dander of being treated like the latest fad. But when Sen’s daughter Renee happily grows up in public glare, it gives other Indian women the confidence to put into effect what they had contemplated all along.

Khanna says: “I was touched that an international celebrity adopted a child whose mother died of AIDS.” Though it will take her some more time to complete the formalities for adopting Nikki, Khanna is already on her way to fulfilling the responsibilities as a mother-to-be. “I am trying to curtail my smoking, have starting filling a room with soft toys and am even preparing to go on a long leave to take care of Nikki when she comes home,” she says.

Which is not to say it’s a smooth ride for the less glamorous members of the newly emerging Sushmita Sisterhood. Khanna, for one, did face slight opposition from her parents. “I am so comfortable with my own self that I don't feel the need to marry. But, yes, there were times when I did feel the need to be a mother and the best way to fulfill it was to adopt a child,” she says.

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