They couldn't have children of their own, so this UP couple adopted 51 kids instead

Fifty-year-old Meena Rana, hailing from Shamli, Uttar Pradesh and 55-year-old Virender Rana from Baghpat, Western Uttar Pradesh married each other in 1981. Almost after 10 years of their marriage, they found out that Meena had a tumour in her uterus and, as a result, the couple could not bear any children. Farmers by profession, the Rana couple adopted a boy with a disability who was abandoned, in the year 1990.

Twenty-seven years after they adopted him, the couple now are parents to 51 such children. In 1990 itself, the couple moved to Shukrtaal where they bought a small land. They named the year-old boy 'Mangeram'. Sadly, the boy passed away after five years but the couple just did not stop adopting abandoned children. They went on to bring home any abandoned child they saw and now they host 51 abandoned children at home.

The couple runs an orphanage on an eight-bigha plot of donated land in Shukrtaal which is now home to 46 children, directly under the couple's care. Speaking with Times of India, Meena Rana said,

"I do not care whether they are Hindus or Muslims. All I know is that they are my children. Our main focus is the education of these children. It is funded through donations. Some of our children grew up to pursue jobs, got married and moved away."

Virendra Rana said,

"The Shukrtaal gram panchayat provided us with a bigger plot of land. For supplies and other essentials, we mostly depend on donations. Our neighbours provide us with wheat and other basic food items."

Mamta, a volunteer at the orphanage who is raised by the couple, is now doing her post graduation in a nearby college. She said,

"I do not know what my future would have been had they not taken me into their care. I owe them my life."

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