Advertisement

29 celebrities who adopted kids

rosario dawson and her daughter in 2017
Isabella and Rosario Dawson in 2017.Aurora Rose/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

Sia adopted two 18-year-old boys who were aging out of foster care in 2019.

Sia
Sia.Getty

In May 2020, 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."

She expanded on how parenting was going during an October 2020 interview. "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," Sia told InStyle. "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."

Rosario Dawson adopted her daughter Isabella when she was 11 years old.

rosario dawson and her daughter in 2017
Isabella and Rosario Dawson in 2017.Aurora Rose/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

During a 2021 interview with Parents Magazine, Dawson shared that she's known she wanted to adopt since was she five years old.

"At that age, I remember literally telling my parents I was going to adopt, and I was going to adopt older because it was like, it's so easy for people to want the cute little baby. But what about the kids my age and older, who also need parents," she said.

So, she adopted her daughter in 2014, when Isabella was 11. "Family to me is blood or chosen. It is your community, it is your posse, it is your ride or dies. And I feel very lucky and grateful to have a very big family that encompasses the world," Dawson continued.

Ex-spouses Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman adopted two children, Connor and Isabella, during their marriage.

nicole kidman tom cruise adopted kids
Kidman and Cruise with their children Connor and Isabella.Patrick Riviere/Getty images

Connor, 76, and Isabella, 29, 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 [an] 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, 14, and Faith Margaret, 11. Cruise has a biological daughter with ex Katie Holmes, 16-year-old Suri.

Sandra Bullock adopted her son Louis amidst her divorce from Jesse James, and five years later adopted daughter Laila.

Sandra Bullock attends the "Ocean's 8" UK Premiere held at Cineworld Leicester Square on June 13, 201
Sandra Bullock.David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage/Getty Images

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."

In December 2015, the "Lost City" 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.

hugh jackman adopted kids
The family spending time in Disney World.Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland

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 in 2009. "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.

jillian michaels adopted daughter
Jillian Michaels and daughter Lukensia.Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

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.

madonna adopted son david
Madonna and one of her sons, David.Jason Merritt/Getty Images

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 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.'"

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.

Connie Britton
Connie Britton.Danny Moloshok / AP

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.

julie andrews
Andrews also has a biological daughter, Emma.Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Andrews and her husband adopted their daughters Amy and Joanna when they were just two and five 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 in 2015, 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 and her daughter Genesis in 2021
Davis and her daughter Genesis in 2021.Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for GBK Brand Bar

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 get pregnant.

Hoda Kotb
Hoda Kotb.Getty Images

Kotb beat breast cancer in 2007, though her fight left her unable to conceive. 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.

Kotb and her former partner had plans to adopt a third child, but the pandemic changed that. "You know what's funny about the adoption stuff that's going on now, apparently it's really slow during this time, during COVID," she said during an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live" in July 2021.

"They said that a lot of people who maybe would normally feel like it would be something they'd want to do, have a child and then give it to someone to raise because they couldn't, are holding onto things because they don't have anything in that moment," she added.

Emma Thompson and her husband informally adopted a former child soldier from Rwanda when he was 16.

emma thompson Tindyebwa Agaba adopted son
Emma Thompson and her son Tindyebwa Agaba.Getty Images

Thompson shared in March 2010 that she met Tindyebwa 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" Agaba.

"I couldn't have more children, and that was hard; but perhaps if I had, I'd have missed out on this extra act of mothering that I've had with Tindy," she said. "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."

Kristin Davis has an adopted son and daughter.

kristin davis
Kristin Davis.Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Just like her "Sex and the City" character Charlotte, Davis adopted a daughter, Gemma, 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.

angelina jolie and her kids
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Knox Jolie-Pitt.Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images

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."

During the press tour for "Eternals," Jolie has opened up more about her experiences. "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 told Vogue India in September 2021.

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."

Katherine Heigl and husband Josh Kelley adopted their daughters Naleigh and Adelaide.

katherine hiegl heigl josh husband
Katherine Heigl and her husband Josh Kelley.Getty/Rick Diamond

Heigl spoke with Scholastic News in 2011, 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.

Michelle Pfeiffer was already in the process of adopting her daughter, Claudia, when she met her future husband David E. Kelley.

michelle pfeiffer, david e kelley, and their daughter claudia
Michelle Pfeiffer, husband David E. Kelley, and daughter, Claudia Rose, in 2010.Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Pfeiffer and Kelley (creator of "Ally McBeal," "Boston Legal," "Big Little Lies," "Big Sky," and more) were set up on a blind date while she was in the process of adopting her daughter Claudia. Three months later, the adoption was made official — and just a few months after that, Kelley and Pfeiffer were married. They had Claudia's christening on the same day in November 1993.

Pfeiffer gave birth to their son, John, in 1994.

"I was shocked at the prejudice, voiced in some quarters, over my decision to adopt a mixed-race baby. It's really surprising that people still put so much emphasis on it. None of us are pure anything. We're all a mixture. Claudia is a beautiful child," Pfeiffer told The Independent in 2007.

"As mother of both an adopted child and my own birth-child, there is absolutely no difference in the huge amount of love I feel for both my children. I always knew I wanted to adopt a child and also have one of my own. There is no difference at all," she continued.

Lionel Richie took in Nicole Richie when she was four and officially adopted her at age nine.

lionel and nicole richie
Lionel and Nicole Richie.Brad Barket/Getty Images

Lionel took Nicole in when she was only four, as her parents, friends of his, were experiencing personal and financial difficulties.

He shared in a September 2015 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 daughters, Jackson and August.

charlize theron
Theron hails from South Africa.Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Theron adopted her first child, Jackson, from her native South Africa in March 2012. Three years later, she adopted her daughter August from America.

The "Fury Road" star has known since she was a kid that she wanted to adopt. "My mom, when I went through my first adoption, actually showed me the letter. I was connected to the idea of having a family through adoption when I was eight years old," she told Diane von Furstenberg during a September 2021 podcast.

"She's like: 'You never asked me to have another baby. You never asked me to have a little brother or sister for you. You just immediately went to adoption.' But I always knew that I wanted to be a mother always," said Theron.

Sheryl Crow adopted her two sons, Wyatt and Levi.

sheryl crow adopted son
Crow and her son, Wyatt.Jason Merritt/Getty Images

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 five weeks old. She told People in April 2017 that "adopting my boys — that's just been the biggest everlasting event that has informed everything."

"The story I was telling myself limited what I thought I could have, until somebody stepped in and said, 'Wait a minute, your story doesn't have to look like your mom and dad's story,' " she shares. "Families look like all different things," Crow said in October 2021.

Calista Flockhart adopted her son Liam shortly before meeting now-husband Harrison Ford.

calista flockhart harrison ford
Actors Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart.Jason Merritt/Getty Images

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 nine years old.

Sharon Stone has three adopted sons, one of whom she shares custody of with her ex-husband.

sharon stone adopted son laird
Stone and her son, Laird.Mark Davis/Getty Images

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.

nia vardalos
Nia Vardalos.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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.

mariska hargitay peter hermann
Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann.Mike Coppola/Getty Images

After the birth of their biological son August, the couple decided to adopt.

"Adoption is not for the faint of heart," Hargitay said in April 2012, 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.

jamie lee curtis daughter annie
Curtis and her daughter Annie.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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.

frances mcdormand adopted son
McDormand and her son Pedro.Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

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 six months old.

Cate Blanchett and her husband adopted a daughter in 2015. The couple also have three biological sons.

cate blanchett
Cate Blanchett.Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

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.

diane keaton adopted kids
Duke, Keaton, and Dexter.Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

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.

meg ryan
Ryan also had an adult son, Jack, with ex-husband Dennis Quaid.Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

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.

thomas rhett lauren akins
Thomas Rhett, Lauren Akins, Willa, and Ada.Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

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. Baby No. 4, Lillie, was born in November 2021.

Read the original article on Insider