19 Celebrities We Didn’t Know Were Adopted

In the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles released a Facebook Watch series called Simone vs. Herself, in which she got super candid about her life. She even used one of the episodes to reveal the difficult, neglectful circumstances that led to her being adopted by her grandparents at the age of 6, something that she credits with putting her on the path for athletic success.

Veteran Peloton instructor Hannah Corbin is known for her graceful moves and her love of all things barre, dance, and stretching. Some Peloton fans may not be aware that Hannah is adopted. Last year, in honor of World Adoption Day, she shared that being adopted is "the best thing that has ever happened" to her.

Lana Condor, the star of Netflix's delightful To All the Boys I've Loved Before series of movies, was adopted from Vietnam as an infant. She also has an adopted brother and has shared her appreciation that her adoptive parents tried to keep her connected to her Vietnamese heritage through food and traditions.

Reality star and actress Nicole Richie was adopted by iconic singer Lionel Richie when she was 9, although the two had actually met for the first time when she was 2. Lionel knew Nicole's birth parents, who also worked in the music industry, and offered to help raise Nicole when the couple was going through a hard time. After several years, they made the arrangement permanent, and Nicole has long considered Lionel as her father.

People often assume that Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, one of the stars of Jersey Shore, is Italian, but she was actually born in Santiago, Chili, and adopted when she was 6 months old. Snooki, now a mother of two herself, shared in a 2020 interview with Khloé Kardashian that she's been open to learning more about her birth family and possibly meeting them some day.

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is probably best known for both his activism and his athletic ability, but some fans may not realize that he was adopted at only 5 weeks old. In a 2018 interview on VH1, Colin spoke about how he came to understand more about his experience of being adopted by white parents as he has grown older.

JC Chasez of the boy band NSYNC was adopted at 5 years old, an experience he remembers clearly. In a 2008 radio interview, he shared that his birth mother "raised me up until when I was 5, so I have a very clear idea of who she was" and that his adoptive parents had actually been foster parents to his birth mother when she was a child.

Funnyman Keegan-Michael Key, star of Key & Peele and Schmigadoon, opened up about his experiences with being adopted during an episode of Running Wild With Bear Grylls. While confronting his fear of spiders, he also shared that he grew up knowing he was adopted but that with that knowledge came fears of abandonment and a "sense of wanting to please."

Academy Award-winning actress Frances McDormand was born to a single mother but was eventually adopted as a toddler. Adoption was something of a family legacy, as her adoptive parents fostered many children, and Frances and her husband, director Joel Coen, also turned to adoption to build their own family.

While many people who are adopted grow up with that knowledge from early on, Canadian singer and songwriter Sarah McLachlan didn't find out until she was 9 years old. She has since described her life with her adoptive parents as "a gift" and that she was glad her birth mother made the hard choice to give her up for adoption.

Another talented singer who was adopted is Faith Hill. The country superstar was adopted shortly after birth, and her parents were always candid about that experience. That included being supportive when she eventually decided to search for her birth family, which includes a biological sibling.

Pint-size vocal powerhouse Kristin Chenoweth was adopted as an infant and calls it a "full-circle blessing." In honor of National Adoption Day in 2015, she wrote movingly in People magazine of her respect for her birth mother, saying that she wanted to "thank my birth mother for loving me enough to make such a huge sacrifice."

Actress and singer Jenna Ushkowtiz, who starred as Tina Cohen-Chang on Glee, was adopted from South Korea as a baby. Since then, she has balanced an acting and producing career with activism to support families hoping to adopt. In 2020, she noted on Instagram that adoption had given her an "epic family."

Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry was actually born with the name Angela, but her name was changed to Deborah when she was adopted at the age of 3 months. While her birth mother was a musician whose identity she learned later in life, Debbie has stated that she dreamed that Marilyn Monroe was her birth mother instead.

Golden Globe-nominated actor Ray Liotta, known for Field of Dreams and Goodfellas, was adopted at 6 months old and also has a sister who was adopted. As an adult, he hired a private detective to find his birth family and discovered that he has seven biologically related siblings.

The late tech guru Steve Jobs was born to two graduate students who gave him up for adoption as an infant. He also had a sister who was adopted and he frequently rejected the label of "adoptive" for his parents, saying in his biography, Steve Jobs, that they were his "parents, 1000%" and that his biological parents were just "my sperm and egg bank."

Olympic diver Greg Louganis was adopted as a baby but struggled with that knowledge as a child. In an interview with People, he explained that he worried that if his "natural parents couldn't love me, than nobody could." He would go on to learn that his biological parents were very young and had no real option to keep him, knowledge that was comforting to the sports legend. In later life, Greg would grow to develop a relationship with his biological father, who had followed his Olympic career all along.

Another great Olympian whose story starts with adoption is figure skater Scott Hamilton. Scott, who was adopted as a baby, is also a parent through adoption. He and his wife, Tracie, adopted two older children from Haiti in 2014, completing their family, which also includes two biological kids.

Rocker Liz Phair was adopted as a baby and has speculated about some of the long-term effects of adoption, including wondering if it was possible to be adopted without being "a little bit screwed up," even though she told Women's Health that her adoptive parents were "very responsible" and "perfect about it" when it came to explaining adoption.