Nia Vardalos: On Seeing Her Daughter for the First Time

[MUSIC PLAYING] My husband and I had been trying to be parents for a very long time, and we were on the path to adopt. And out of the blue, we got a call about a three-year-old little girl who was living in American foster care. And right away, we said yes. 

And they said, well, there’s a protocol. You have to meet her. And we’re like, no. Yes. We’re saying yes. Just we’re saying yes. And they said, well, you must go through this process. 

So we drove as quickly as we could over there. And there were social workers and lawyers and so many people all around her, and she was in a social worker’s arms facing the other way. And I saw her head, and then she turned and looked at me. 

And I thought, oh, I found you. It was the strangest feeling of connection of I had been looking for her. And then she smiled, and that was it, it, it. I was a mom. 

[MUSIC PLAYING]