I spent a great many years of my life working with the state to help special needs kids get adopted and find good, loving homes. Sometimes people who were adopted feel like they are alone in the world, solely in the sense that so few people can relate to that or understand what it must be like. But I bet if those people knew how many other people went through it, it would bring them comfort. It is with that thought that we came up with this list of 15 celebrities who were adopted. From movie mega stars to men who helped change the world as we know it, we bet a few of these entries might surprise you. A very inspiring list, indeed.
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Marilyn Monroe: If you are going to start a list like this, you may as well go big. It is a well known fact that Marilyn Monroe spent much of her early years in foster care. Feeling so lost in the world was part of the motivation that made her summon her stronger, Marilyn alter-ego from within herself. Crazy to think she is still a household name after all these years, but she really is. And she really was adopted.
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Kristen Chenoweth: The youngest example of the list, Chenoweth was adopted at only five days old. Now we know her as the Broadway and television star, and perhaps that star never would have risen the way it did were she not adopted. It is not about who is blood. It is about who shows you love.
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Jamie Foxx: Not only was Jamie sent to live with his grandparents when he was very young, but his Mother was adopted, too. Adoption begets more adoption in this case. But if he were not sent to live with his grandparents, would he be the superstar we know him as today? Oozing charisma and charm, it is clear whoever raised him, raised Jamie Foxx right.
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John Lennon: With so many Lennon quotes I can sum up the world. “Nobody told me there’d be days like these. Strange days, indeed.” Many know Lennon had a tumultuous youth, and that his Father and Mother both pretty much bailed on him. He was taken in by an aunt, and so started his life down a whole new road. A life without Lennon’s music is a life I would rather not “Imagine”.
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Nelson Mandela: When his birth Father died, the chief who looked after the Thembu people adopted Nelson Mandela as his son. It is also said that he is a huge inspiration to Nelson’s life and the altruistic rode he chose to take. A true cultural hero to many, let it be known it may not have been so had he not been adopted.
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Tim McGraw: Though this one has been a hot button topic before, we say he falls into yes. He was adopted. He thought the man who had raised him was his Father, but he found out when he was twelve that was not his real Father. His mother’s husband did adopt him as a child, so yes. Just one half of the power couple on the list.
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Babe Ruth: Come on! Babe Ruth is one of the greatest baseball players of all time. It was also well known that his life was not always the easiest. Even from birth he had many challenges to face. Yet, so many decades later, we still talk about him. That, in itself, speaks volumes about the resounding power of adoption.
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Ray Liotta: Adopted at the tender age of six months, Liotta went on to become one of the more foreboding actors in all of cinema. You want someone to play a gangster, you get Liotta. Makes us wonder if he ever found his birth parents and wanted to “shake them up”. All kidding aside, an incredibly talented man who may not have taken the road he took had he not been adopted.
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Sarah McLachlan: You know those sad commercials you see where Sarah McLachlan is telling you that you need to adopt a dog or cat from a shelter and give them a real chance at life and love? The ones where her music plays in the background? Well, now you will have a new appreciation for those.
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Steve Jobs: Believe it or not, Steve Jobs was born to a Syrian Muslim father whose family did not approve of his girlfriend. For that reason, he was adopted by Paul and Clara jobs pretty much as soon as he was born. Makes us sad to think some people’s ignorance can affect a child. But guess who is laughing now? Well, not Steve because he is dead, but you get the point. The man forever changed the world of technology as we know it.
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Bill Clinton: There you have it, ladies and gents. He was born to a widowed mother and was then given to his grandparents. Did any of that limit his goals, aspirations, and dreams? Nope, I would say he has done wonderfully for himself. Bill Clinton is not only cool and intelligent, but was raised by people other than this birth parents. A fact that most don’t seem to know about him.
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Debbie Harry: This icon from the punk and new wave scene of New York in the eighties was actually given up by her birth parents and three months old and adopted by a loving New Jersey couple. Almost makes you look at some of her big hits like Heart of Glass in an all new light.
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Michael Bay: One of the most financially successful directors in the last decade was adopted at a very young age. Rumor is he has invested some time and money into finding his birth parents, though we are unsure if he was ever successful. If the birth parents kept an eye on him, hopefully they are kicking themselves now. Or perhaps, he would have never gone on to make his billions had his life played out differently. You never really know.
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images for Paramount)
Jesse Jackson: An older adoption, Jesse Jackson was adopted by the second husband of his Mother when he was sixteen years old. That is a trend you will hear about on this list a few times. The occasion of better men stepping into these kid’s lives and giving them a chance to be loved and to find their true potential. In some of these cases, being adopted into a good home was the best thing that could have happened to them at the time. How they all turned out stands as a testimonial to the positive power of adoption as well.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Faith Hill: What are the odds both you and your husband would both be adopted? I imagine pretty slim. Probably even slimmer when you also factor in the chances of them both being”country music super stars”. But in the case of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, that is just the case. They were both adopted, and look at them now! So what celebrity on the list most surprised you? Take to the comments and let us know.
(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
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