Celebrities are not afraid to do the impossible to start a family and have kids, from surrogacy to adoption. But many are also on the other side of the coin and were adopted themselves. Here are 15 of the most famous and influential people that were also adopted:
Nicole Richie
Nicole was adopted when she was nine years old by renowned singer Lionel Richie and then-wife, Brenda.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was born and raised in South Africa after his father died. He was informally adopted by a leader of a nearby village called Jongintaba.
Marilyn Monroe
A family friend adopted Marlyn at the age of 11 after her biological mother was institutionalized due to serious psychological issues.
Skrillex
The famous DJ was adopted when he was a baby by some family friends of his biological parents.
Steve Jobs
The Apple co-founder was born in 1955 to Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah John Jandali, who were unmarried at the time and put him up for adoption. Steve managed to track down his biological parents, who got married after Jobs was adopted and had a second child.
Colin Kaepernick
American football player Colin Kaepernick was adopted at three weeks old by a young couple Rick and Teresa Kaepernick.
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx was adopted at seven months old after his biological parents abandoned him after a rough divorce.
Keegan-Michael Key
Key and Peele star was adopted by a young couple when he was a baby. At 25 he managed to reunite with his biological family (https://thetitlemag.com/culture/keegan-michael-key-the-predator-cover/).
Ice T
The rapper and actor was adopted by his aunt at the age of 8 after both his parents passed away.
John Lennon
His uncle practically raised John Lennon because his biological parents were unable to care for him.
Bill Clinton
His grandparents and other family members raised former president Bill Clinton after losing his father to a car accident when he was only three months old.
Ray Liotta
Ray and his sister were both adopted by their parents in New Jersey. He later managed to track his biological parents to find out that he had five more biological siblings.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor’s parents died when she was very young and was later adopted by her grandmother, Mary Livingston Ludlow.
Michael Bay
Director Michael Bay was adopted by a young LA couple, Harriet and Jim Bay, when he was an infant.
Faith Hill
Faith was given up for adoption when she was one week old. She found out back in 1993 that her biological parents were young and unwed, and they couldn’t care for her at the time, but that they later got married and had a son.
