Dutch mayor travels to India in search of his birth mother after 41 years: Says every child deserves to know their roots

What happened: A Netherlands-based mayor has arrived in India to look for his birth mother, who left him at a Nagpur shelter in 1985.

• Why it matters now: After 41 years, he says finding his origins is essential to understanding his identity.

• What changes for people: The story brings renewed attention to adoption transparency, record access and emotional rights of adopted children.

• Who is affected: Adopted adults, biological parents, adoptive families and child welfare agencies.

Dutch mayor begins emotional journey in India to find the mother who left him as an infant

A Dutch mayor of Indian origin, Falgun Biberdzic, has returned to India on a deeply personal mission: to locate the mother who left him at a Nagpur shelter as a three-day-old baby in 1985. His story, now gaining global attention, highlights the painful silence many adopted children live with when official records fail to preserve their early history.

What triggered the search after four decades

Falgun says he has always respected his adoptive parents but felt an emotional pull to understand where he truly came from. In his words, “Karna had the right to meet Kunti. Every child should have that right,” referencing the Mahabharata to explain his quest.

He and his wife have visited India multiple times, but this time the purpose is different: to find answers that were lost 41 years ago.

What we know about his early days

According to available shelter documents from Nagpur, an unmarried woman left her newborn at a home for abandoned infants in 1985.

Just a month later, a couple visiting from the Netherlands adopted him and took him home to start a new life.

Since then, Falgun has pursued education, built a career in public service and eventually became a mayor in the Netherlands.

Why this story matters for India and the world

Child rights experts say Falgun’s journey underlines several ongoing issues:

• The need to preserve accurate birth records

• Emotional and legal challenges adopted adults face when tracing origins

• The importance of ensuring transparent adoption processes

• Growing global conversations on identity and belonging

Officials in Nagpur say they are ready to support his search but caution that records from that period may be incomplete.

Multiple perspectives

• Child welfare organisations note that thousands of adopted children, especially those adopted internationally during the 1980s and 1990s, face similar gaps in documentation.

• Adoption experts say emotional closure often requires biological connections, even if adoptive families are loving and supportive.

• Local authorities acknowledge the need for modern record-keeping to avoid such situations for future generations.