Emma Thompson and Her Adopted Son Met at a Crucial Moment in Their Lives

Life often puts many obstacles in our way and only with the passage of time we are able to see that in reality, fate was conspiring in our favor. British actress Emma Thompson is living proof of this. After years of struggling with IVF, she ended up adopting a refugee teenager.

Emma grew up in an artistic home with both parents being actors. So it came as no surprise when she decided to pursue acting as well. While studying English Literature at Cambridge University, she appeared in some comedy plays, and, in 1987, she played her first dramatic roles in the television series Fortunes of War.

Thanks to her immense talent as an actress and screenwriter, Emma established herself as a world-renowned star. But it was not until 1995 that her life changed completely, both professionally and personally. The actress wrote and starred in the film Sense and Sensibility, which not only received multiple awards but also led her to meet the love of her life, her husband Greg Wise.

Even though Emma and Greg were destined to be together, everything happened in a curious way. A friend of Greg had predicted that he would meet the love of his life in the movie. But the actor assumed it was his partner Kate Winslet, as he thought Emma was still married and, besides, she was 7 years older.

After a disastrous first date, Greg and Kate realized they had no chemistry at all. Later, it was the Titanic star herself who told him that Emma’s marriage was over and that he should ask her out.

Emma was heartbroken when her first marriage to fellow actor Kenneth Branagh came to pieces after discovering his multiple affairs. She recalls this time as one of the most difficult in her life. “I was half alive. Any sense of being a lovable or worthy person had gone completely,” the Nanny McPhee star revealed in an interview.

By her own admission, Greg was the one who picked up the broken pieces and helped her rebuild her self-love. After 8 years, they got married in a beautiful ceremony in Scotland in 2003.

After 27 years together, Emma and Greg have one of the strongest marriages in Hollywood, but they have also gone through some challenges along the way, such as fertility issues. The actress had already suffered a miscarriage during her first marriage, and she had another one in 1997. With the help of in vitro fertilization treatment, Emma was able to conceive and give birth to their daughter Gaia in 1999.

The couple wanted another child and underwent multiple fertility treatments, all of which failed. Emma has described how hard the process was, “For years, I counted people’s children in the street and thought I’d never recover.” However, the couple never imagined that they would have the opportunity to have another child.

Apart from being a talented actress, the star is also a humanitarian. She tries to make the world a better place, getting involved in multiple causes to help those in need. It was precisely thanks to a charity event that life allowed her to become a mother again. In 2003, the actress organized a Christmas party at the Refugee Council, an organization that supports refugees and asylum seekers.

At the event, she met Tindyebwa, a 16-year-old Rwandan refugee who came up to thank her. After exchanging a few words, Thompson was moved by his heartbreaking story. The young boy had lost his father at age 9 and was later taken away from his mother and sisters, who were presumed dead sometime later. Tindy was rescued and taken to England.

On his first 5 nights, Tindy was forced to sleep on the cold streets of London until he ended up at the Refugee Council looking for something warm to eat. Emma’s first impression of the boy was that he was very lonely and lost. She offered to take him to the house of the family who had given him temporary asylum and invited him to Christmas Eve dinner at her home.

For the next 6 months, Emma and Tindy would see each other for long walks and talk. She also helped him improve his English pronunciation. The boy had become part of the family, accompanying Emma and Greg on vacations and spending weekends with them. When he started calling them “mom” and “dad,” it was clear that he had become their son.

Looking back, Emma confessed that, though it was devastating that the fertility treatments didn’t work, she was later grateful for it. “If I had [had more], I’d have missed out on this extra act of mothering that I’ve had with Tindy. Because there was space in my life for him, and I don’t think there would have been space if I’d had another young child around. So I’m very grateful that IVF didn’t work because every day I’m grateful for the arrival of Tindy.”

The British star expressed that the boy brought a lot of joy to her home and gave her a new perspective on life. Emma also highlighted how supportive Tindy has become of her and how much he makes her laugh in the most challenging moments, despite himself having a traumatic past.

Today, Tindy is married and has a career in Human Rights. However, he is very close to his family and spends almost every weekend with them. Emma and her adopted son met just when they needed each other the most, and they’ve completed the missing piece of their lives.