12 Stars You Probably Didn’t Know Were Adopted

Find out which celebrities were adopted…

1. Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth was adopted by her parents, Jerry and Junie Chenoweth, when she was just a newborn. Throughout her life, Kristin says her adoption was never kept a secret and her parents stressed that she was chosen to be with them. Kristin has never met her birth parents but knows that they loved her “enough to make such a huge sacrifice.”

“It was never something that was hidden from me and it is not something I have ever been ashamed of,” Kristin shared with the Huffington Post. “Not everyone can say that, but I count myself lucky to have a birth mother who loved me enough to know she wasn’t ready to be a mom. I’m lucky that I have wonderful parents who chose me. I often say adoption is a full-circle blessing and I truly believe it. Adopted children were not abandoned, we were chosen.”

2. Faith Hill

Faith Hill was a baby when she was adopted by her parents, Ted and Edna Perry. While her adoption wasn’t kept a secret, she was incorrectly told she was given up for adoption because her biological mother had had an affair with a married man. Faith later learned that in actuality, her biological parents couldn’t care for her at the time but later married and had another child. Even still, Faith holds no bitter feelings and was relieved when she got to meet her biological parents.

“I was adopted into this incredible home, a loving, positive environment, yet I had this yearning, this kind of darkness that was also inside me,” Faith told Good Housekeeping. “The first time I met [my birth mother], I just stared at her. I’d never seen anyone that looked anything like me. It was the awe of seeing someone you came from. It fills something…I know she must have had a lot of love for me to want to give me what she felt was a better chance.”

3. Lana Condor

Lana Condor was adopted from Vietnam when she was four months old and growing up, her parents tried to immerse her in her culture as much as possible. Lana and her brother, who was also adopted, were educated about their background and even had a Vietnamese nanny. Now as an adult, Lana loves talking about being adopted.

“People don’t know how to talk about adoption. They don’t know how to approach me, because they think it’s a sensitive subject,” she shared with Elle. “However, I love to talk about it. I like to make people feel more comfortable, and it’s great to have this platform and be able to shed light on adoption and how it’s a beautiful thing, instead of being tiptoed around.”

4. Nicole Richie

Nicole Richie was adopted by her famous parents, Lionel Richie and Brenda Harvey-Richie, when she was just a little girl. Lionel was a friend of her biological parents and when the couple began to experience hardships, Lionel offered to take care of Nicole. Eventually, when she was nine, they ended up adopting her.

“Nicole was actually a godsend. She was a little girl who needed a shot. She was used to people coming and going. She looked at me and I’d say, ‘I’m not going anywhere,’” Lionel told People.

5. Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was just a baby when he was adopted by his parents Paul and Clara Jobs. In Walter Isaacson’s biography, Steve Jobs, Steve said that the couple were his “parents 1,000%” while his biological family were his “sperm and egg bank…nothing more.” Although Steve met his biological mom and sister later in life, he did not have a relationship with his biological father. The pair unknowingly met just once when Steve had dinner at his father’s restaurant.

“I shook his hand, and he shook mine and that’s all,” Steve said during a 60 Minutes interview. “I learned a little bit about him, and I didn’t like what I learned.”

6. Jamie Foxx

At seven months old, Jamie Foxx was adopted by the couple who had been his biological mother’s adoptive parents. Through the years, he admits he struggled with his relationship with both of his biological parents but was not short on love from his adoptive parents.

“Although my parents weren’t around, my grandparents adopted me when I was 7 months old. I was never short on the love of a mother and father, though it came from an earlier generation of family,” Jamie told Oprah. “I don’t really even know what my biological father is like. I don’t know what his favorite food is. I don’t know his quirks. Same with my mother. But I know that the two people who raised me cared deeply for me.”

7. JC Chasez

JC Chasez was adopted when he was five-years-old by a couple who had previously fostered his biological mother. At the time, she was going through personal struggles and thought it would be better to give the little boy some consistency in his life. Looking back, he says hearing that he was going to be adopted was the most important phone call of his life.

“Probably when I was 5, and I was told that I was going to be adopted. I wasn’t in a home or anything; I was living with my mother. And then she was like, ‘Hey, how would you feel about moving in with these people?’ And I was like — [shrugs]. My folks are dope. They’re killer. I’ve been happy ever since,” he told Blender in 2004.

8. Ray Liotta

When Ray Liotta was six-months-old, he was adopted by his parents Alfred and Mary. For much of his life Ray says he was upset about being adopted, not understanding why his biological parents would give him up. But once he met his biological mom when he was in his 40s, he says he came to understand the situation.

“At first, I didn’t understand how a parent could give up a child. So, I had that kind of energy of just being like, that’s just f–ked up,” he told People. “And then you realize, when I finally met my birth mom and my birth siblings … in my 40s, by then, I wasn’t as angry about it happening. I don’t know. It’s just another journey.”

9. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi was six-months-old when her parents Andy and Helen traveled to Chile to adopt her. She had an immediate connection with her parents and says growing up, she wasn’t concerned about knowing her biological family. She’s since wondered more about her Chilean parents but has not publicly shared if she’s reached out to them.

“I was adopted at 6 months from Santiago, Chile. And I was adopted by Helen and Andrew Polizzi. They flew all the way to Chile to come pick me up and they said right when they saw me they said I was like, ‘Mama, Dada.’ So it was meant to be, things just work out that way — it’s called fate,” she said in a YouTube video.

She added, “I never really thought, ‘What’s my birth mother like? What’s my birth family like?’ Because I’m so content with my adoptive parents and my adopted life and family. But you know I thought about it once I started getting older, like, ‘What does my mom look like? What does my dad look like?’”

10. Keegan-Michael Key

Keegan-Michael Key was adopted by his parents Michael and Patricia when he was a little boy. As an adult, he had the opportunity to meet his birth mother, which he says was a life changing experience.

“In 1996 I found my biological mother. I am adopted,” he told Chicago Now. “Finding her was something that had always been in my mind. My parents always said, ‘That’s a possibility for you.’ At age 25, I found her. That was one of the most unexpected and crucial and significant and foundational things that has happened in my life.”

He continued, “She told me about her life and how she lives and how she made it through giving me up for adoption and a lot of that came into play in subsequent conversations and the next thing you know I’m sitting in her living room with my mother with tears rolling down my face accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. So, that [accepting Jesus Christ] was pretty unexpected. It’s one of the touchstones in both my spiritual and personal life.”

11. Jenna Ushkowitz

Jenna Ushkowitz was born in South Korea and was adopted by her parents Judi and Brad when she was three-months-old. Growing up, Jenna says she had a strong sense of belonging in her family, with her parents telling her that she was “their little gift from God.” Feeling their “unconditional love,” she didn’t have too many questions about her biological family. Even now, Jenna says she’s curious about her biological parents but is unsure if she’d ever search for them.

She also helped co-found the Kindred Foundation, which aims to assist adoptees and their families, whether that’s providing travel, translation or other support.

12. Debbie Harry

Debbie Harry was adopted by her parents Catherine and Richard Harry when she was only a few months old. At age four, her mother and father told her she was adopted. Looking back on her life, Debbie says being adopted allowed her to follow her own path.

“They explained it to me in a really nice way,” Debbie told Irish Independent. “It made me feel quite special somehow. I sometimes attribute my, uh, adventurous nature to that…I have an open mind about things. It didn’t present me with any borders. Like, ‘I’m just like my mother, and I’m going to be like her.’ I always felt like I really was a different person, and I didn’t feel that was the most comfortable place for me to be.”