These Celebrities Have Adopted Children to Complete Their Families
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Family is traditionally thought of as relations with those you share a biological connection with, but family can mean much more than being tied together through genetic lineage — and the following celebrities know that better than most.
Adoption has been warmly embraced by each of these celebrity parents for a robust variety of reasons. For some, like Rosario Dawson, adoption was the obvious path to parenthood from a young age. As Charlize Theron put it, it was never a secondary option.
Others, like Sia, struggled with infertility; some, including Hoda Kotb, were unable to conceive after battling cancer; and for those like Ewan McGregor, Lionel Richie, and Thomas Rhett, adoption felt like a matter of divine intervention.
Many of these famous figures, including Mariska Hargitay and Julie Andrews, have beautiful blended families comprised of biological and adopted children. Regardless of how their children came into their lives, these celebrities have all opened up about the joy of being adoptive parents and how their journey with adoption has profoundly changed their lives.
Read on to learn about the touching stories of how these celebrities met their children through adoption.
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Leslie Grossman
Leslie Grossman has adopted her daughter, Goldie Bronson.
“I know it from both sides and, to me, it’s been the most magical, incredible, life-affirming experience. I don’t know how I could love my daughter anymore than I do. I couldn’t, and I don’t know how I could, love my parents anymore than I do,” Grossman said on The Drew Barrymore Show.
Landon Beard & Vanessa Ray
Blue Bloods star Vanessa Ray and her husband Landon Beard adopted a baby boy, Isaac Ray Beard, in Feb. 2024.
“I was at work one day, honestly I was about to do a family dinner and I just had this overwhelming sensation of family and what I love about our life and all of these things,” she told People in an extremely vulnerable interview, saying she then called her husband sobbing.
“I think we’re supposed to be parents and I think we’re supposed to adopt,” she told him.
Ray talked about the “whirlwind” of it all. She explained that it took a year to find a lawyer and fill out the paperwork but then, in a matter of three weeks, they met Isaac’s birth mother and he was born.
“You’re going through the process of speaking to different birth mothers and learning the laws in different states and things, and it just doesn’t feel like you can buy a crib,” she says. “You’re not going to buy a crib and pacifiers for a baby that you don’t even know you have.”
And then, in just a day, their proverbial village got them ready.
“In 24 hours we had a makeshift nursery put together. A crib, pacifiers, bottles, Baby Brezza, all the things,” Ray says. “We had everything that we needed from our friends. We didn’t have to buy anything. We really didn’t right away, at least for the first three months.”
Bridgit Mendler
Disney star Bridgit Mendler surprised fans when she announced in Feb. 2024 that she had been a mom for more than two years.
“I’m a mama to a sweet 4yo boy,” she tweeted alongside a stunning beachside photo of her son and her husband Griffin Cleverly. “Started fostering in 2021 adopted near Christmas of 2022. I’m so lucky — being a parent is the biggest gift and most defining experience there is.”
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock has an adopted son, Louis and an adopted daughter, Laila. Both children were living in Louisiana’s foster care system when Bullock adopted them in 2010 and 2015, respectively.
The actress told People in 2015, “When I look at Laila, there’s no doubt in my mind that she was supposed to be here. I can tell you absolutely, the exact right children came to me at the exact right time.”
Viola Davis
Viola Davis and husband Julius Tennon adopted their daughter, Genesis when she was a baby in 2011.
Davis told InStyle in 2015, “I always tell Genesis she was born from my heart, not my belly.” The actress also told E! News the same year, “There are so many ways to mother rather than to carry a child in your body. So many children need parents, and so many of us want to mother. Know that you will experience motherhood to the full extent.”
Hoda Kotb
After Hoda Kotb‘s battle with breast cancer in 2007, she was unable to conceive children. Her desire to become a mother led her to adopt two daughters, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine with her ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.
The Today anchor told People in 2021, “I always say, ‘You didn’t come from Mommy’s tummy, you came from my heart.’ And they understand that.”
Hugh Jackman
After struggling with miscarriages and IVF, Hugh Jackman and wife Deborra-Lee Furness decided two adopt two children: son Oscar and daughter Ava.
Jackman told The Herold Sun in 2011, “I don’t think of them as adopted — they’re our children. We feel things happened the way they are meant to. Obviously, biologically wasn’t the way we were meant to have children.”
Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor shares an adopted daughter, Jamyon, with his ex-wife, Eve Mavrakis.
In an emotional interview, the actor recounted the events that led him to meet his daughter. He explains that he was filming a movie in Mongolia, and he and his co-star and crew were feeling beaten down by unexpected struggles they faced in the remote land of the country. They were contemplating giving up and taking a short route to nearby Russia, or continuing on.
McGregor says, “Well, we did carry on, and we did get to Ulaanbaatar, and Charlie and I went to a street shelter for children… And we were both massively moved by it.” He continued, “We left that day, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that little girl. It took nearly two years, but eventually, we adopted Jamyon. So it was like, one of those decisions in life where you think, I can look back on that and go, that would’ve changed everything, you know, if we’d done that — If we’d have turned left, I wouldn’t have met her. So that’s pretty amazing.”
McGregor also shares three biological children with Mavrakis, daughters Clara, Esther, and Anouck, and a biological son, Laurie, with his wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews shares two adopted daughters, Amy and Joanna with her late husband Blake Edwards. Both girls were adopted from Vietnam in the 1970s, and Andrews spoke about the adoption experience with The Australian Women’s Weekly in 2015.
“We wanted a child and it hadn’t happened,” she said. “Amy came into our lives and it was wonderful. Then Saigon began to fall and within three months, we had another one. We said [to the orphanage where Amy had come from], ‘We know you are not going to be able to do this for long. Once the South falls [adoptions will cease] so if you care to send us another one, please do.’ So suddenly Joanna was with us and they were not sisters, but like sisters.”
The Hollywood icon also has a biological daughter, Emma with her first husband Tony Walton, and two step-children, Jennifer and Geoffrey, from Edwards’ first marriage.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is the mother of two adopted daughters, Jackson and August. The actress adopted Jackson in 2012 and August in 2015.
Theron shared with People in 2018 that her upbringing in South Africa, which exposed her to orphanages and children in need, inspired her wishes to adopt: “Even when I was in relationships, I was always honest with my partners, that adoption was how my family would look one day. This was definitely not a second option for me. It was always my first.”
Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, who were married from 1990 to 2001, adopted two children together prior to their divorce. They share daughter Isabella and son Connor.
Both children opted to live with Cruise after the divorce and lead a life dedicated to the Church of Scientology. Kidman, who is not affiliated with the religion, told Vanity Fair in 2019, “They are adults. They are able to make their own decisions. They have made choices to be Scientologists and as a mother, it’s my job to love them.”
Kidman also shares two biological daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret with husband Keith Urban. Cruise shares a biological daughter, Suri, with ex-wife Katie Holmes.
Madonna
Madonna has four adopted children, all of whom were born in Malawi, Africa. She has one adopted son, David, and three adopted daughters, Mercy, and twins Stella and Estere.
The iconic singer told People in 2017, “Sometimes I would just close my eyes and just think, ‘Why isn’t my kitchen filled with dancing children?’ There’s so many children that need a home. I thought, ‘What am I waiting for? Just do it.'”
Madonna also has two biological children: daughter Lourdes Leon, whom she had with Carlos Leon, and son Rocco Ritchie, whom she had with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.
Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie‘s eldest daughter, Nicole Richie, is adopted. The singer took in Nicole at age 4 — she was the child of friends of his who were experiencing personal and financial difficulties.
During a 2015 interview with Piers Morgan, the R&B musician shared, “It took about maybe a year for me to just fall in love and she was a little button, and of course, by that time I was ‘Dad.'”
Lionel legally adopted Nicole when she was 9, then went on to have two biological children with ex-wife Diane Alexander: son Miles and daughter Sophia.
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson adopted her daughter Isabella when she was 11
The actress shared during a 2021 interview with Health, “Around the age of 5, I found out my dad wasn’t my biological father… At 5, it was a lot to take in, and I recall thinking, ‘What if my parents hadn’t met, and I was older, and no one wanted to marry my mom because she had an older kid?’ I remember vividly back then saying that when I was older I was going to adopt an older child.”
The single mom continued, “With my daughter, I didn’t go to an adoption center or anything like that. My family knew her biological mom, and when we found out she was in foster care, we looked for her. It wasn’t even a question; it was clearly meant to be — she’s my kid. It’s wild to think I manifested this when I was younger.”
Nia Vardalos
Nia Vardalos and her then-husband Ian Gomez adopted their daughter, Ilaria in 2008. The actress wrote in a 2009 op-ed for HuffPost, “After 10 years of banging my head against the brick wall of infertility, I accepted there was another plan for me. And (cue music swell) motherhood turned out to be the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done with my life.”
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl shares three children with her husband, Josh Kelley, two of which are adopted daughters: Naleigh and Adelaide.
The actress spoke of being open with her daughters about their adoptions, telling NBC News in 2021, “We have said to them, ‘This is your story. We don’t have any information about your biological fathers, but we do have a bit about your biological mothers. If you guys want to talk more about them, you can have as much or as little information as you want. Tell us what you’re comfortable with knowing.'”
The couple also shares a biological son, Joshua.
Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
Ex-spouses Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt share six children, three of which are adopted: sons Maddox and Pax, 18, and daughter Zahara.
The iconic actress told Vogue India in 2021, “What is important is to speak with openness about all of it and to share. ‘Adoption’ and ‘orphanage’ are positive words in our home.”
She added, “All adopted children come with a beautiful mystery of a world that is meeting yours. When they are from another race and foreign land, that mystery, that gift, is so full. For them, they must never lose touch with where they came from. They have roots that you do not. Honor them. Learn from them. It’s the most amazing journey to share. They are not entering your world, you are entering each other’s worlds.”
Jolie and Pitt’s biological children include daughter Shiloh and twins Knox and Vivienne.
Sia
After years of infertility struggles, Sia adopted two teenage boys who were soon to age out of the foster care system in 2019. She told InStyle in October 2020, “The entire system is so underfunded and understaffed that there are not enough people to really monitor how the kids are being taken care of. And now my sons very much want to be a part of that change, so I am trying to give them the resources to do that.”
The singer added, “The most important thing I’ve learned is that just because my sons didn’t come out of me 19 years ago doesn’t mean they’re not my children. I’ve already started thinking about adopting more kids. And I’ve realized that this is exactly the way that motherhood was supposed to happen for me.”
Connie Britton
Connie Britton has one son, Yoby, whom she adopted in 2011. The actress told People in 2017, “My son is adopted from Ethiopia so I always say I can take very little credit, but he, from the beginning, just inherently has had such an open and curious heart and love of life.”
Harrison Ford & Calista Flockhart
Harrison Ford got a bonus son out of his relationship with wife Calista Flockhart. Flockhart adopted their son Liam in 2001 shortly before she met Ford in 2002. The couple has been together ever since, tying the knot in 2010, with Ford adopting Liam as well.
The iconic actor told Parade in 2010, “I wasn’t expecting it at all. The unexpected part was certainly true, and the joy part is also true,” regarding his foray back into new fatherhood after raising four older children.
Ford’s four biological children from his previous two marriages include sons Ben, Willard, and Malcom, and daughter Georgia.
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone has three adopted sons: Roan, Laird, and Quinn. After her kids presented her with the Mother of the Year Award from the Associates for Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies in May 2017, she said in her acceptance speech, “I’m grateful my kids chose me — I am a lucky mom.”
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband Christopher Guest have two adopted daughters: Annie and Ruby. The iconic actress decided to adopt after infertility struggles, and she even wrote a children’s book in 1996 about families who are formed through adoption.
Regarding Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, Curtis said, “I wanted to write a book about real children and real families joined by adoption… Adopted children often don’t have those kinds of details [about their birth]. Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born was written to let children who joined their families through adoption know that their own birth stories were exciting, too.”
'Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born' by Jamie Lee Curtis
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow adopted two boys when they were babies: Wyatt and Levi. The singer and single mom shared during a 2022 Apple Music interview, “I adopted my kids after I had breast cancer and everything shifted and I was … I’m just more convinced than ever, I tell people all the time when it comes to adopting or having your kids or whatever, right now I believe your kids choose you, they choose their path when they come in, and if you are really aware and are present with them they are here to also teach you. And man, they’re my best teachers.”
Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew Upton share four children, including their adopted daughter Edith.
The actress has been pretty private about her children, but she did share during a Woman of the World event, “I felt we had space, enough emotional room in our hearts, and we’re privileged enough to have the capacity to have another child, so it wasn’t about biology.”
Blanchett and Upton also share three biological sons: Roman, Ignatius, and Dashiell.
Mariska Hargitay & Peter Hermann
After experiencing a difficult pregnancy and emergency C-section with their biological son August, Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann decided to adopt their two youngest kids. The married couple adopted their daughter Amaya, followed by their youngest son, Andrew, just months apart in 2011.
The actress told People in 2018, “Our family is so perfect, or at least perfect for me. Together we’re just this whole, happy, joyful, chaotic, crazy unit. I’ve never known anything that was more right.”
Emma Thompson
Although Emma Thompson never legally adopted Rwandan former child soldier Tindyebwa “Tindy” Agaba, she invited him to spend Christmas with her family when she met him. At the time, he was a 16-year-old living on London’s streets, and he’s been her son ever since.
She told The Telegraph in 2008, “Slowly, he became a sort of permanent fixture, came on holiday to Scotland with us, became part of the family.”
The actress also has a biological daughter, Gaia, with her husband Greg Wise.
Thomas Rhett
Thomas Rhett and his wife Lauren Akins embraced adoption after unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant. As they were finalizing the adoption of their daughter, Willa, 6, the couple discovered that they were pregnant with their daughter Ada who met Willa mere months after her adoption.
Akins shared with People in 2017, “All orphans have heart-wrenching stories, but it felt like this specific baby was ours. I think that the Lord knew what he was doing when he did not let us get pregnant.”
The country singer and his wife also share two additional biological daughters, Lennon and Lillie.
“You think when you become a parent, ‘Well, I’m a dad. I have all the answers,’” he told Hoda Kotb in 2022. “I don’t know if you’ve felt this at all, but it’s kind of like, ‘Well, what age? What age is the right age? Maybe we need to wait until she’s 10, you know what I mean? But she has questions all the time. She talks to Lauren, she’s like, ‘When can we get to see my friends in Uganda?’ And then Ada James will be like, ‘When can I go see our friends in Uganda?’ And Willa Gray will be like, ‘Well, they’re not your friends, they’re my friends.’”
Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan adopted her daughter, Daisy in 2006. The actress told People in 2007, “I am convinced, completely convinced that there was nothing random about [the adoption]. She is the daughter I should have.”
Ryan also shares a biological son, actor Jack Quaid, with ex-husband Dennis Quaid.
Mary-Louise Parker
Mary-Louise Parker adopted her daughter Caroline in 2007. The actress told OK! Magazine that year regarding adoption, “Some people are drawn to do it, and I felt like if I don’t do it now, I’m going to regret it my whole life so I just went ahead and did it.”
Parker also shares a biological son, William Atticus, with ex-husband Billy Crudup.
Denise Richards
Denise Richards adopted a daughter, Eloise Joni, in 2011 — six years after her divorce from Charlie Sheen. Richards adopted her third daughter as a single parent, but when she married Aaron Phypers in 2018, he adopted Eloise as well.
Richards told People in 2020, “I felt like I wasn’t done having children, and I’ve always wanted to have a large family. And so after my divorce, I felt like, ‘Oh well, I’m sure I’ll soon enough get remarried and have my family [grow],’ and that wasn’t in the cards at the time, so I decided to expand my family on my own.”
The model and actress also shares two biological daughters, Sami and Lola with Sheen.
Willie Garson
The late Willie Garson is survived by his son Nathen who was adopted at age 7.
The actor sweetly told People in 2020, “We had a smooth transition because we both wanted this adoption. Fatherhood is what I always wanted it to be. I wanted it so badly and he wanted it so badly. I think often it can be difficult because it’s not that balanced.”
