Celebs Who Gave Up Kids for Adoption

Becoming a parent in the public eye has never been simple, and in earlier decades it was even tougher. Many stars navigated limited options, strict studio control, and heavy social pressure, which led some to place children for adoption when they were very young or before fame arrived. Their stories range from private decisions made in secret to highly public reunions years later.

Below are well documented cases from music, film, television, and literature. Each entry focuses on clear facts such as when the child was born, how the adoption happened, and what followed, including whether parent and child later met again and how that reunion took shape.

Joni Mitchell

In 1965 Joni Mitchell gave birth to a daughter named Kelly Dale Anderson while she was a young art student in Toronto. With limited money and support at the time, she placed the baby in a closed adoption that was common practice in that era, meaning identities were sealed by law.

Her daughter grew up as Kilauren Gibb. Mother and daughter reconnected in 1997 after separate searches led them to one another, and they subsequently spoke publicly about their reunion and the circumstances that made adoption the path chosen in the mid sixties.

Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr had a daughter named Brandi in 1970, several years before her sitcom career. She placed Brandi for adoption through an agency at a time when she did not yet have the resources to raise a child.

They reunited in 1989, at the height of the comedian’s success on ‘Roseanne’. Brandi later worked behind the scenes on the show, and both have discussed staying in contact as adults after finding each other.

Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart became a father in 1963 when his girlfriend Susannah Boffey gave birth to a daughter named Sarah. As teenagers without a stable income, they agreed to place Sarah for adoption through a British agency.

Sarah grew up with adoptive parents and later sought out her birth family. She and Stewart reconnected as adults and developed a relationship over time, with contact continuing after her adoptive parents passed away.

David Crosby

Before his career took off, David Crosby fathered a son in 1962 who was placed for adoption shortly after birth. The child grew up outside the entertainment world with adoptive parents.

In the mid nineties the son, James Raymond, located his birth father. They established a close bond and went on to collaborate musically, with Raymond joining Crosby in the group CPR and working as a keyboardist and arranger on studio and tour projects.

Kate Mulgrew

While starring on ‘Ryan’s Hope’ in 1977, Kate Mulgrew gave birth to a daughter and placed her for adoption through Catholic Charities. The pregnancy occurred early in her acting career, and adoption records were sealed in keeping with agency policies of the time.

Mother and daughter, Danielle, reunited in 1999 after separate searches. Mulgrew wrote about the experience in a memoir and has spoken about how their relationship continued through the years, including during her later run on ‘Star Trek Voyager’.

Patti Smith

In 1967 Patti Smith gave birth to a baby as a young woman before her move to New York City. With few resources and limited support, she chose adoption for the child and kept many personal details private.

Smith later built a career in music and writing and has acknowledged the adoption in interviews and in her life story. She has emphasized how common closed adoptions were in the sixties and how that legal structure shaped the privacy around the child’s identity.

Ted Nugent

In the late nineteen sixties Ted Nugent fathered two children who were placed for adoption. He has stated that he was not prepared to parent at that point and that the adoptions were arranged when he and the mothers were very young.

As adults, his son and daughter located him and they met years later. Nugent has said they remain in contact and that the reunions gave them an opportunity to learn about one another after growing up in separate households.

Andy Kaufman

Andy Kaufman fathered a daughter in 1969, years before his television success on ‘Taxi’. The baby was placed for adoption shortly after birth and raised outside the entertainer’s public life.

Decades later the daughter, known as Maria, sought information about her origins and met members of Kaufman’s family. The story has been documented in biographies that describe how she pieced together her history through records and family conversations.

Mercedes Ruehl

Mercedes Ruehl gave birth to a son in 1976 and placed him for adoption as she worked to establish an acting career. The adoption was arranged through an agency and the baby was raised by another family.

They reunited many years later and stayed connected. Ruehl later adopted another son as an infant, and her firstborn became the younger child’s godfather, creating a family bond that continued alongside her stage and screen work, including roles such as her Oscar winning turn in ‘The Fisher King’.

Paula Fox

Novelist Paula Fox gave birth to a daughter in 1944 and placed the baby for adoption as she pursued education and early work. The adoption occurred during a period when single motherhood carried heavy stigma and few financial supports.

The daughter, Linda, later became a therapist and author and is the mother of musician Courtney Love. Mother and daughter eventually met as adults and discussed their shared history in separate memoirs that described the adoption and reunion from both perspectives.

Loretta Young

In 1935 film star Loretta Young gave birth to a daughter in secret. The child spent time in the care of a Catholic charity, after which Young arranged to adopt the girl herself and raise her publicly as an adoptee rather than as her biological child, which reflected studio era pressures on actors.

The daughter, Judy Lewis, learned of her parentage years later and wrote about the experience in a memoir. The case became a well known example of how studios and social norms shaped private family decisions and public narratives in classic Hollywood.

Clark Gable

Clark Gable fathered a child in the mid thirties who was born to actress Loretta Young. The baby did not grow up in his household and was raised by Young through the adoption arrangement she put in place, which kept the circumstances from public view at the time.

The daughter became known as Judy Lewis and later discussed her life story. Gable’s role was acknowledged by biographers and by the families involved long after the events, providing a fuller picture of how parentage and adoption were handled in that era of the film industry.

Share your thoughts or additional examples in the comments so we can keep this conversation informative and respectful.