Entertainment
13 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Adopted
According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, over 120,000 children are adopted per year in the United States. There's a chance that you know at least one person who was placed for adoption by their biological parents, but you may not know that some of your favorite celebrities were also raised by non-biological parents. These 13 celebrities prove that "family" doesn't have much to do with your genes. Check out the 13 celebrities who have talked openly about their adoption.
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi
She may be culturally Italian, but Snooki is ethnically Chilean. She was adopted at a young age by Italian-American parents. She admits that she has no desire to know her biological parents and considers her adoptive family her “real” parents.
Steve Jobs
Jobs was adopted as an infant. He met his biological sister, novelist Mona Simpson, when he was 27 years old.
Jamie Foxx
According to Biography, Foxx was adopted by his maternal grandmother after the relationship between his biological parents dissolved. Adoption is an issue close to the singer/actor’s heart, and his foundation supports adoption programs.
Kristin Chenoweth
The Broadway actress was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and adopted as an infant by her family.
Liz Phair
The singer was adopted as an infant and came under fire for telling a magazine that you can’t be adopted without being a little bit “screwed up.”
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah was one of three children adopted by the McLachlan family. She has a friendly relationship with her birth mother, an artist who had her at age 19.
Nicole Richie
Nicole moved in with Lionel Richie and his wife when she was three years old after her biological family suffered financial problems. The Richie family adopted her at age six.
Faith Hill
Hill was adopted as an infant by a family in Mississippi. She met her birth mother in 1993 after at three-year search.
Frances McDormand
The Fargo star was adopted as an infant by a pastor and his wife.
Ray Liotta
Actor Liotta was adopted when he was six months old. He was raised in New Jersey.
Michael Oher
If you’ve seen The Blind Side, you already know the story. The Tuohy family adopted Oher and helped the now-Baltimore Raven earn a scholarship to the University of Mississippi.
Michael Bay
The director of Transformers was adopted as a baby and found his birth mother when he was a young man. He never found his biological father, but jokes that he shares “creative DNA” with Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Deborah Harry
The “punk Marilyn Monroe” and lead singer of Blondie was put up for adoption when she was only a few months old. Though many fans speculated that her song “Mother” was about the search for her own biological parents, she insists that it’s about a club she used to frequent in New York City.
