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27 celebrities who adopted kids
Gabbi Shaw
- November is National Adoption Month.
- These 27 celebrities adopted kids from all over the world.
- Hoda Kotb adopted her second daughter in April 2019, after adopting her first in February 2017.
- Some have blended families of both adopted and biological kids, like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
Families come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors.
Famously, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (until their divorce) were the gold standard of blended families: six kids from four different countries; four adopted and three biological.
But many other familiar faces have welcomed adopted kids into their homes, like Jamie Lee Curtis, Sandra Bullock, and Hoda Kotb.
Whether their families consist solely of adopted children or are a blend of biological and adopted kids, keep scrolling to see which 27 celebs chose to adopt.
Sia adopted two 18-year-old boys who were aging out of foster care in 2019.
In May, the "Chandelier" singer revealed that back in 2019, she adopted two teenage boys who were about to age out of the foster care system.
Sia told SiriusXM that her boys were "both finding [quarantine] pretty difficult, one more so than the other." She added, "But they're both doing things that are really good for them right now, that are really helpful. They're really doing a lot of educational stuff that's good for them."
Ex-spouses Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman adopted two children, Connor and Isabella, during their marriage.
Connor, 25, and Isabella, 27, were adopted by Kidman and Cruise before their 2001 divorce, as toddlers.
Bella and Connor, practicing Scientologists, chose to live with their father after the divorce. It's been speculated that they avoid Kidman since she's not a member of the Church of Scientology. In Leah Remini's tell-all book about Scientology, she shared that when asked if she spoke to her mother, Isabella said, "Not if I have a choice. Our mom is a f------ SP." SP stands for "Suppressive Person," which is someone who tries to block all the good in the world, according to Scientology's website.
Kidman 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 has two biological daughters with husband Keith Urban: Sunday Rose, 12, and Faith Margaret, 9. Cruise has a biological daughter with ex Katie Holmes, 14-year-old Suri.
Sandra Bullock adopted her son Louis amidst her divorce from Jesse James, and five years later adopted daughter Laila.
Bullock adopted both Louis and Laila from the Louisiana foster care system. When she announced the adoption of her daughter, Laila, she described her family as "blended and diverse, nutty, and loving and understanding."
"The Blind Side" actress revealed that she kept her second adoption a secret to prove that she could provide a normal home environment for her kids. She compared the secrecy to living in the Witness Protection Program.
Hugh Jackman and his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, adopted their son, Oscar, and daughter, Ava, after struggles with fertility.
Jackman shared that he and his wife, who was 40 when they married, struggled with miscarriages and IVF.
When the two decided to adopt, they chose two mixed-race babies, calling it "a no-brainer."
"It was like, where's the need?" he said. "The need was obviously mixed race children. And that was it."
Jillian Michaels adopted her daughter from Haiti the same month her then-fiancée gave birth to their daughter.
The former "Biggest Loser" star adopted her daughter Lukensia in May 2012, the same month her fiancée Heidi Rhoades gave birth to their son Phoenix. (Michaels and Rhoades have since split.)
The adoption process was long — she announced she was pursuing adoption in 2010, two years before she was finally able to welcome Lukensia home.
Madonna has four adopted kids: David Banda, Mercy James, and twins Stella and Estere.
All four of Madonna's adopted kids were born in Malawi, Africa. She adopted son David in 2006, followed by daughter Mercy in 2009. Eight years later, she brought home twin daughters Stella and Estere.
She told People, "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.'"
She also has a biological daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, whom she had with Carlos Leon, and biological son Rocco Ritchie, whom she had with ex-husband Guy Ritchie.
Connie Britton adopted her son Yoby from Ethiopia in 2011.
The "Friday Night Lights" actress shared that she decided to adopt after her father died. She picked Ethiopia because of her work with the African Children's Choir and Worldwide Orphans.
She shared in 2017 that "he, from the beginning, just inherently has had such an open and curious heart and love of life."
Julie Andrews and her husband adopted two Vietnamese orphans in the '70s.
Andrews and her husband adopted their daughters Amy and Joanna when they were just 2 and 5 months old, respectively. The two didn't have any children together biologically, but both had children from previous marriages.
Andrews spoke about her big family, saying, "And besides being a stepmother, I'm an adoptive mother, too. I have my natural-born daughter and Blake's two children, and then we adopted two children … can you imagine the hodge-podge?"
Viola Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, adopted their daughter, Genesis, when she was a baby in 2011.
Davis announced she had become a mom during an acceptance speech in 2011, when she thanked her husband and "our new baby Genesis."
When Davis was on the cover of InStyle Magazine in 2015, she shared that she "always tell(s) Genesis she was born from my heart, not my belly."
Hoda Kotb adopted both of her daughters after her fight with breast cancer left her unable to have children.
Kotb beat breast cancer in 2007, though her fight left her unable to have kids. But happily, the "Today" anchor announced she adopted a daughter in February 2017.
She spoke about how lucky she feels to have adopted her daughter, saying "when you're a new mom for the first time at 52, you get on your knees and say thank you. Because you get to do something you didn't think you had a shot at."
In April 2019, Kotb announced that she had adopted another daughter, named Hope Catherine Kotb.
Emma Thompson and her husband informally adopted a former child soldier from Rwanda when he was 16.
Thompson shared that she met Agaba (whom she calls Tindy) when he was 16, at a Refugee Council event. He was sleeping on the streets of London at the time, after escaping his home country Rwanda. Thompson invited him to stay for Christmas, and he's been a part of the family ever since.
The actress recalled that "slowly, he became a sort of permanent fixture, came on holiday to Scotland with us, became part of the family."
Thompson also has a biological daughter named Gaia, but struggled with IVF after her birth, before "adopting" Tindy.
Kristin Davis has an adopted son and daughter.
Just like her "Sex and the City" character Charlotte, Davis adopted a daughter in 2011. In her statement to People, she said, "This is something I have wanted for a very long time. Having this wish come true is even more gratifying than I ever had imagined. I feel so blessed."
In 2018, Davis adopted another baby, this time a son named Wilson.
In 2019, she appeared on Red Table Talk and spoke about adopting Black children. "Because my children are African American, I feel like it is my duty and my job to do as much research, as much work, build as many bridges as possible, because you are their community, and that is key, and that is so important," she said.
Exes Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have a large brood, including their three adopted children Maddox, Pax, and Zahara.
In addition to their biological children Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne, Pitt and Jolie adopted Maddox, Pax, and Zahara from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, respectively.
Jolie said of her adopted kids, "They're the greatest little people I've ever met, and they give me so much joy."
Katherine Heigl and husband Josh Kelley adopted their daughters Naleigh and Adelaide.
Heigl spoke with Scholastic News, saying, " I always knew I wanted to adopt." Heigl and Kelley adopted Naleigh in 2009 from South Korea. She was a special needs baby — she had a congenital heart defect that had to be fixed with open-heart surgery.
The couple's second daughter Adelaide was domestically adopted in 2012.
Heigl and Kelley also have a biological son, Joshua.
Lionel Richie took in Nicole when she was 4 and officially adopted her at age 9.
Lionel took Nicole in when she was only 4, as her parents, friends of his, were experiencing personal and financial difficulties.
He shared in an interview with Piers Morgan that it didn't take long for him to consider Nicole part of the family, saying, "So 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.'"
Richie also has two biological children: Sofia Richie and Miles Brockman Richie.
Charlize Theron has two adopted children, Jackson and August.
Theron adopted her first child, Jackson, from her native South Africa in March 2012. Three years later, she adopted her daughter August from America.
Theron revealed, "I always knew I would adopt. Always."
Sheryl Crow adopted her two sons, Wyatt and Levi.
Crow announced in 2007 that she adopted 2-week-old Wyatt, named after her father. She released the song "Lullaby for Wyatt" in 2009.
In 2010, Crow adopted her second son, Levi, when he was just 5 weeks old. She told People that "adopting my boys — that's just been the biggest everlasting event that has informed everything."
Calista Flockhart adopted her son Liam shortly before meeting now-husband Harrison Ford.
Flockhart adopted her son Liam in 2001. She met Ford in January 2002, and they've been together ever since. Though Ford has four adult children of his own, he officially adopted Liam as well. When Ford was asked if his son was an "unexpected joy," he responded, "Yes. I wasn't expecting it at all. The unexpected part was certainly true, and the joy part is also true."
The couple tied the knot in 2010, when Liam was 9 years old.
Sharon Stone has three adopted sons, one of whom she shares custody of with her ex-husband.
Stone first adopted her son Roan with then-husband Phil Bronstein, and when the two called it quits in 2004, they engaged in a lengthy custody battle (Bronstein won primary custody).
Shortly after, she adopted her son Laird in 2005, and just one year later adopted her third son Quinn. Her three boys presented her with the Mother of the Year Award from the Associates For Breast and Prostate Cancer Studies in May 2017. She responded, "I'm grateful my kids chose me, I am a lucky mom."
Nia Vardalos and her then-husband adopted their daughter after fertility issues.
The "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star opened up about the adoption of her daughter in a column for the Huffington Post in 2009. Vardalos and her then-husband adopted their daughter Ilaria after "10 years of banging [her] head against the brick wall of infertility, [she] accepted there was another plan."
Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann adopted two kids after Hargitay had a difficult pregnancy and emergency C-section.
After the birth of their biological son August, the couple decided to adopt.
"Adoption is not for the faint of heart," Hargitay said, revealing that they had been chosen to adopt a baby, and even witnessed the child's birth before the birth mother changed her mind.
Thankfully, soon after Hargitay and Hermann were chosen to adopt their daughter Amaya, and six months later adopted son Andrew.
Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband, Christopher Guest, adopted their two kids nine years apart.
Curtis revealed in an interview that the reason she adopted her kids was due to infertility. "Adoption was the only way for us to have a family," she said.
Curtis and Guests' first child, Annie, was adopted by the pair in 1986. They had been waiting and planning for their daughter's arrival, which was completely the opposite of how their son Thomas entered their lives. According to Curtis, "with Annie, I had sought her out. I have no idea how our son came to us ... a set of circumstances occurred, all of which were celestial."
Curtis wrote a children's book in 1996, "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born," a story designed for adopted kids.
Frances McDormand and Joel Coen adopted their son Pedro from Paraguay.
McDormand was adopted herself, so it's no shock that she chose to adopt as well.
McDormand and Coen adopted their son Pedro from Paraguay in 1995 when he was 6 months old.
Cate Blanchett and her husband adopted a daughter in 2015. The couple also have three biological sons.
The private actress announced that she had adopted daughter Edith with a succinct statement: "The Upton family [Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton] have adopted a baby girl. No further details will be provided."
Blanchett shared that she had wanted to adopt after the birth of her first son in 2002, saying, "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."
Diane Keaton became a mother at 50 when she adopted her daughter Dexter and son Duke.
Keaton, who has never been married, adopted her daughter Dexter in 1996, when she was 50. Five years later, in 2001, she adopted her son Duke.
Keaton said of motherhood: "Motherhood has completely changed me. It's just about like the most completely humbling experience that I've ever had."
Meg Ryan adopted her daughter Daisy from China in 2006.
Ryan adopted her daughter Daisy in 2006, five years after separating from her husband Dennis Quaid, with whom she has a biological son. When speaking about the adoption, Ryan said, "I am convinced, completely convinced that there was nothing random about [the adoption]. She is the daughter I should have."
Thomas Rhett and wife Lauren Akins adopted their daughter Willa, and soon after announced that Lauren was also pregnant.
The couple began a year-long adoption process after they visited Uganda and met their future daughter. They had been trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully, so Akins thought that perhaps they weren't meant to have biological children — so they began trying to adopt Willa.
But, in a surprising turn of events, while Rhett and Akins were finalizing the adoption, they found out they were also expecting a biological baby. They knew that the window for them to adopt Willa was closing, so Akins flew out to Uganda during her third trimester in order to secure their daughter.
Thankfully, they were able to bring Willa home in May 2017 before welcoming second daughter Ada in August. Akins gave birth to their third daughter, Lennon, in February 2020.
- Read more:
- Sandra Bullock tears up while talking about her adopted kids: 'You're a forever parent'
- 16 celebrities you didn't know were adopted
- 11 heartwarming photos of newly adopted children and their families
- There are clear benefits of being an adopted child, but knowing where you came from is crucial
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