Perhaps you’ve wondered at some point what happens to children once they are adopted. Perhaps you’ve wondered if they grow up to become successful, or suffer the same afflictions as their biological parents, such as drug or alcohol abuse.
Most people who are adopted consider their adoptive parents their real parents, and don’t advertise their adoption. For that reason, you probably had no idea the ten celebrities below were adopted.
1. Steve Jobs
Founder and genius behind the Apple conglomerate, Steve Jobs was born to a Syrian Muslim and a woman not of the same ethnicity. Because of the objections of his biological mother’s family to the couple’s relationship, she placed her son for adoption. Paul and Clara Jobs adopted the young entrepreneur at birth.
2. Sarah McLachlan
The singer in the commercials making you cry with talk of adopting helpless animals was born in Canada and adopted by an American family.
3. Kristin Chenoweth
This pint-sized, mega-celebrity is part of the adopted child club. Her parents adopted her when she was only five days old.
4. John Lennon
This Beatle might have made musical history, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was adopted by his aunt. For unknown reasons, Lennon’s mother could not care for the singer as a child and his father went AWOL on a naval ship. As a result, his aunt adopted him.
5. Marilyn Monroe
The gorgeous, sultry actress might have had her fair share of problems, but who knows if they had anything to do with the fact that she was adopted. Her widowed mother abandoned her at a young age, causing the blonde beauty to spend the bulk of her childhood in foster care.
6. Bill Clinton
The former President of the United States had a difficult childhood. His mother was widowed while pregnant with the future president. As a child, his mother sent him to live with his grandparents, who later adopted him.
7. Babe Ruth
Known for his outstanding career in baseball, this athlete grew up in an orphanage. At the age of seven, the baseball superstar’s parents sent Babe Ruth and his sister to an orphanage, which is where he learned to play baseball at the encouragement of Brother Matthias.
8. Priscilla Presley
Elvis’s wife was adopted by her mother’s second husband after her father was killed. A pilot in the US Navy, Presley’s father was killed in a plane crash when she was only six months of age. Her mother later remarried and her husband adopted the future King of Rock and Roll’s wife.
9. Faith Hill
Happily married to country star Tim McGraw and the mother of a couple of little girls of her own, this country singer was adopted as a child. She was adopted in Mississippi as an infant.
10. Eleanor Roosevelt
This well-spoken, intelligent, and admirable First Lady is a fine example of the benefits of adoption by someone who cares. Her mother and father passed away within two years of one another, leaving the future First Lady to become adopted by her grandmother.
Youth in need of parental care
Adopting a baby might be your preference, but there are millions of children who are in need of a loving home at every age. If you are interested in providing parental care for an orphaned child, you can find help through local, state, and national adoption resources. Public and private adoption agencies in every state are also equipped to provide you with the information you require.
Being orphaned, abandoned, and adopted are not so bad. It might not be the ideal childhood, but when a loving family adopts a child, there is no limit to what the child can become. Take these celebrities for example. Their parents didn’t want or could not provide for them, but that didn’t stop them from pursuing excellence.
