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7 Celebrities Who Put Their Kids Up For Adoption

James Sheldon

November 24, 2015

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There can be nothing easy about giving a child up for adoption. No matter what age or life experience, it’s all the same — after carrying a child to full term, and delivering a new life into this world, it would be hard to just say, “Farewell.” With that said, the fond farewell is one of the most generous gifts some parents can give to a child whom they might not be able to raise. The list of celebrities who have given up children for adoption is somewhat staggering, but not always surprising. Here are seven examples of well known stars who’ve endured the experience.

7. Kate Mulgrew

Kate Mulgrew has enjoyed an incredible career on stage, and in front of the camera, and for those who are only coming to know her as Galina Reznikov in Orange Is The New Black, you’d hardly recognize her in other roles. They have significantly butched up the American midwesterner for that particular role. Regardless of enjoying an illustrious career on hit TV shows, Broadway and in several feature films, Kate became pregnant at the age of 21, while she was single, and was in disbelief that she could raise the child on her own. She offered her child for adoption, and had this to say about the experience later: “I wouldn’t trade the experience. I also wouldn’t repeat it. It’s a lingering pain, a pain that will always be there.” No doubt, Kate has enjoyed some healing from that pain, as she reunited with her child in 2011.

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6. Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart was a teenager near the age of 18 when he and a young girlfriend learned that their relationship had led to a pregnancy. Shock and dismay followed, but the couple agreed they should have the child and offer it for adoption. Rod’s then girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl, who became Sarah Streeter. Sarah’s adoptive parents eventually died and she and Rod came to terms with the past. This has all happened within the last five years, and Rod has remained candid about the guilt he felt when the two first met. He explained that the process was difficult because he desired to be her father, but didn’t feel that he earned the privilege to be called “Dad.” After some time, the father and daughter have solidified their bond, and after 30-plus years of separation, they have taken new joy in their relationship.

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5. Roseanne Barr

It is often said that comedy comes from pain, and some of the greatest comedians we have find their funny by drawing from their darkest moments. Such could be said about Roseanne Barr, who at the age of 17, became pregnant. Unlike others on this list who immediately thought the best option would be to give up their children for adoption, Roseanne desired to keep her child. It was during her pregnancy that she lost the support of the father, had no real way of supporting herself and was already living in poverty. Roseanne decided the best thing she could do for her child was offer a bridge to opportunity. Roseanne had a daughter who would go on to become Brandi Brown. Brandi eventually sought her birth mother, and after 18 years, the two were able to meet and develop a relationship.

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4. David Crosby

David Crosby has done a lot of fathering in his lifetime. He was famously included into the family dynamic of fellow musician Melissa Etheridge by offering his strong swimmers to her lesbian partner at the time. Those two children are not the ones given up for adoption. Much earlier in his life, David Crosby and his girlfriend gave up a son for adoption. That son went on to become James Raymond, and he was also exceptionally gifted in the world of music. Once James reached adulthood, he was reunited with his biological father, and the two men went on to share the stage and the recording studio, developing various projects together. Unlike David, who is best known for having a guitar strapped around his neck and shoulder, James is a pianist and composer, and has played with some of the most prestigious orchestras and jazz ensembles in the world.

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3. Patti Smith

Patti Smith was such an integral force in the realm of music, and delivering punk rock to the world, and the world to punk rock. She was to punk what Grandmaster Flash was to Hip-Hop. Innovators. Visionaries. And though Patti is known for her cutting edge substance and style, and appreciated for being completely rough around the edges, becoming pregnant at the young age of 19 called her to a soft center, where she opted to give her child up for adoption. Patti never doubted her decision, but she remarked in her memoir that it proved to be far more difficult than she initially thought. At the time, she was a high school graduate with very little real life experience outside of working in a factory, and she had little support in the realm of child rearing.

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2. Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell is known as a folk singer-songwriter, but there have been few people who have offered so much soul to their music. When Joni was 21, she became pregnant. She had no desire to give up her child, but she was unwed, didn’t want her parents to find out and she had yet to scratch the surface of what would become a legendary career. She gave her child up for adoption, and many years later went public about it because it was something that always haunted her. She wanted to know her daughter. In 1997, Joni was reunited with her daughter, and it became incredibly clear that Joni’s song “Little Green” was all about the daughter she gave away as Kelly Dale Anderson, and who became Kilauren Gibb. They were both very thrilled to be reunited, and there was no doubting the mother and daughter connection.

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1. Linda Lovelace

Linda Lovelace was one of the most iconic names in the seedy underworld of pornography, which has since pressed into American mainstream as a strange novelty. The woman who was known as Linda Boreman to those who knew her best, became an outspoken opponent of the porn industry, and was quite transparent about her experience in the business. It seemed Linda was destined for a life of tragedy, as she was born into a relatively unhappy home, lived a pretty miserable childhood, then became pregnant at age 20 and was forced to give the child up as her domineering mother made all of her decisions. Linda’s life never enjoyed much of a silver lining. She contracted hepatitis from a blood transfusion from a car accident, eventually needed a liver transplant, and later died due injuries from another car accident at the age of 53.

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