List of Famous Celebrities Who Have Adopted Children
Adoption is a tumultuous and emotionally draining procedure requiring years of waiting for a phone call or letter informing you that a child has been placed with you (usually a random process).
You'll need to pass a series of background checks and fill out any paperwork to get a job. Parents on this list will tell you that it is well worth the time and effort. Below are the celebrities that adopted children. So, let us get started.
1. Angelina Jolie
Jolie and her ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton adopted their first child, Maddox, from Cambodia in 2002. In 2005, Jolie took in Zahara, an orphan from Ethiopia. Jolie-Pitt became the children's last name in 2006 after Pitt was thought to be planning to adopt both of them later that year.
Jolie adopted her son Pax. Pitt had formally adopted all three children by their marriage in August 2014. Divorce proceedings have dragged on for so long because of the couple's six children (the pair has three biological children).
2. Sandra Bullock
Her surprising disclosure to People magazine that she and Jesse James had been in the process of adopting a child was met with applause. In January of 2010, her son, Louis, moved in with the couple.
When she appeared on the cover of a weekly four months later, she announced her divorce from James and adoption of Louis. The child she adopted later became known as Laila.
3. Ty Burrell
A decade ago, he and his wife Holly, a Modern Family actress, tied the knot. Frances was born five years after they adopted her. They welcomed their second child into their family in March of that year.
4. Viola Davis
In 2011, when Genesis was just a few months old, the Academy Award-winning actress adopted her daughter. According to her interview with InStyle, she said, "When it comes to being a mother, there are numerous alternatives to carrying a child within your womb.
So many children need parents, and so many of us aspire to be moms! Be prepared for the whole range of motherhood's joys and sorrows."
5. Jim Caviezel
Known for his roles in Person of Interest and The Passion of the Christ, Jim Caviezel and his wife Kerri have adopted three cancer-ridden youngsters from China. Bo, now 18, Lyn, 16, and David, 7, informed the actor in an interview: "One had malignant sarcoma, two had brain tumors. I knew their life chances were slim, but I was determined to help them.
Because of them, I'm motivated to improve myself as a person. Love is a choice that must be made." Adoption has become a cause dear to his heart. "The thought never occurred to me that adopting would not give me the same sense of belonging as if they were my children. There is nothing more incorrect than this statement."
6. Katherine Heigl
Heigl's adoptive sister was born in South Korea, where the Suits actress and her musician husband Josh Kelley adopted their daughter Nancy Leigh Mi-Eun Kelley in 2009. She told Scholastic that she was a fan "I always knew I wanted to adopt from Korea because I wanted my own family to look like the one I grew up in.
Even though we've discussed having our biological children, we've settled on adopting a child as our priority. I only wanted to be a mom." Adalaide Marie Hope was born three years later after they adopted her domestically. Joshua Jr. is the actress's first child after adopting two daughters.
7. Madonna
Two of Madonna's ex-husbands had biological children with her; she later adopted two more children. Adopted from Malawi, David and Mercy Banda are the children of Malawian parents. The singer announced her adoption of twin children from the country on Instagram last year. All those in Malawi who helped make this happen are in my thoughts and prayers.
8. Kristen Davis
Gemma-Rose was adopted as a single mother by the Sex and the City star in 2011. "Something I've desired for a very long time" was her statement when asked about adopting a child. She recently became a mother to a son through adoption.
9. Charlize Theron
The Oscar-winning celebrity adopted Jackson in 2012. Arkansas's ex-judge leaked information about Theron's private adoption and forfeited his law license to avoid being disciplined following his conviction in an unrelated case for accepting bribes.
August, the daughter she adopted in 2015, is doing well. During the adoption process, she learned from her mother that she had written to an orphanage in South Africa when she was a child and expressed her desire for a sibling.
10. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Marriage and adoption followed in 1990 after the pair met on the set of Days of Thunder. Two of the couple's children, Isabella Jane and Connor Anthony, resided with Cruise after their public breakup. They have grown distant from Kidman, who is now married to Keith Urban and has two biological children with him in the intervening years.
Kidman's children are said to be practicing Scientologists, and she left the church when her divorce caused the rift. She said this in 2010: "That they chose to live with Tom is a testament to their independence. However, there is nothing I can do about it." While Kidman was living and working in London at Bella's 2015 wedding to Max Parker, she did not extend an invitation to the actress.
11. Connie Britton
The country music diva gave birth to her first child, Yoby, in 2011. She has stated that she lost both of her parents within three years and then vowed that she would not let her single status keep her from becoming a mother.
12. Meg Ryan
Jack Henry Quaid, the actor's son with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, was already a grown man when Ryan adopted Daisy True, a 14-month-old child from China, in 2007. Ryan and I talked about how we both felt that we were meant to be the mothers of our girls when we first met in 2010.
She said, "I am confident that there was no randomness involved. It turns out she's the perfect child for me to have as a child myself. We're meant to be together forever. Being an adoptive parent isn't different from being a parent to my biological kid."
13. Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann
She gave birth to her first child, August, in an emergency cesarean section in 2006 with her husband, Younger Peter Hermann. They had a daughter, Amaya Josephine, in April 2011. They were notified six months later that they had been chosen to adopt a baby boy and named him Andrew.
In an interview with People, she said, "Our family, or at least our family for me, is so wonderful." "We're just one big happy, wonderful, frantic, crazy family when we're all together. There has never been anything more correct in my experience."
14. Sharon Stone
In 2000, Roan Joseph was born to the Bronstein's after marriage, and they adopted him in 1998. Upon their divorce, Bronstein was awarded primary custody, and the actress was allowed visitation rights. Laird Vonne, Stone's second son, was adopted in 2005, and Quinn Kelly, her third son, was adopted in 2006.
15. Mary Louise Parker
The Weeds actress and consummate writer adopted a baby girl from Africa in September 2007. She later stated that she had "always known" she would eventually adopt a child.
16. Denise Richards
Her ex-husband Charlie Sheen had two daughters with the newlywed and newest cast member of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She became a single parent in 2011 and adopted a third child after her divorce from her ex-husband. Richards' mother, Eloise Joni, died of cancer in December 2007. Her daughter, Eloise Joni, was named after her.
17. Hugh Jackman
For him and his wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness, the decision to adopt children of mixed race was deliberate because it was the largest group of kids who needed parents, according to the Greatest Showman star in an interview with People.
Many people [adopt] believing it is extremely important that the child looks like them, and honestly, that was never an issue for Deb and me," said the actor and father to Oscar, now 18, and 12-year-old Ava.
18. Calista Flockhart
Calista Flockhart, star of Ally McBeal, was present during the birth of her soon-to-be-adopted son in 2001 on New Year's Eve. Ten days after his birth, Calista became a single mother and father to a baby boy she called Liam. A healthy son is a blessing, and Calista is happy to have one.
For the sake of her newborn kid, Calista famously stepped away from the limelight. Calista and Harrison Ford were dating in 2002 when Liam was nine months old. In June of that year, the couple exchanged vows and began their life together.
19. Sheryl Crow
The singer Sheryl Crow adopted a 2-week-old baby boy in 2007 because she was concerned about her fertility following her battle with breast cancer. Wyatt was the name given to the newborn. After several failed adoption attempts, when Wyatt was nine weeks old, Sheryl adopted a second boy, Levi.
Sheryl revealed that she had taken infant CPR classes in preparation for her adoption. Sheryl remarked, "The idea was, if the opportunity arose, I would be ready."
20. Oscar De La Renta
Oscar De La Renta took in a baby boy named Moises in 1983. After Oscar's first wife, Françoise de Langlade, passed away, Moises was taken in by an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.
Moises has risen to the top as a fashion designer, following his father's footsteps. "He is the kindest, most thoughtful person I've ever met. Having a heart of gold, Oscar has described his son.
21. Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer adopted Claudia Rose as a baby in 1993. Michelle E. Kelly and David E. Kelly married in November 1993, just a few months after Michelle began adoption. On the same day that Claudia was christened, the couple married. John, the couple's now 16-year-old son, was their only child.
22. Willie Garson
In addition to playing Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City, actor Willie Garson, who just passed away at the age of 57, was also a single father of one child. His son Nathen was seven years old when he was adopted in 2009.
"We had an easy transition because we both wanted this adoption," he told PEOPLE when asked about the decision. "Being a father is all I dreamed it would be."
23. Neve Campbell
A year after welcoming son Radnor into the world, the Scream star told Kelly Clarkson four years later that she told Radnor about his adoption from the beginning and that it came as "no surprise" to him.
"He's aware that he was in [his biological mother Cynthia's] womb. According to the actress, she "created him" during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in January 2022. There is a whole album of photos and memorabilia of her life that she produced for him.
24. Barbara Walters
Walters adopted a baby daughter, Jackie Dena after she had three miscarriages in the 1960s with her then-husband Lee Guber. Later, Jackie explained to 20/20 that the term "actual parent" is a "terrible label" because "what defines a parent is not always who gives birth to you."
In March 2005, Nurse Jackie adopted their son Anderson, and in April 2008, she adopted her daughter, Macy. 'I'm just not one of those people who thought that having biological children was vital,' Falco said in 2009. "It was more about the desire to be a parent."
