15 Celebrities Who Adopted Children and Set an Example for All of Us

Statistics show that nearly 135,000 children are getting adopted in the U.S. every year. Celebrities are among the families that have opened their doors to someone else’s kids. On the one hand, those children are so lucky to enter a life of fame and fortune, but on the other, the only important thing is that they’re loved and well taken care of.

We at Bright Side turn our attention to the famous people who had too much love to give, so they decided to make some children very happy.

1. Michelle Pfeiffer

The famous actress decided to adopt her daughter, Claudia Rose, when she was single. The adoption process was finished in 1993, and, coincidentally, it also became the year Pfeiffer married her current husband, David E. Kelley. They also welcomed a son one year later, thus completing their family.

2. Tom Cruise

Cruise shares 2 adopted children with his ex-wife Nicole Kidman. The former couple adopted a girl Isabella Jane in 1992 and a boy Connor Antony in 1995. Unfortunately, their family wasn’t meant to last and Tom divorced Nicole in 2001. The actor went on to have one more child with his second ex-wife Katie Holmes, while Kidman shares 2 daughters with her husband Keith Urban.

3. Connie Britton

The Friday Night Lights star is a single mother to son Eyob, who she adopted from Ethiopia in 2011. Britton once said she’d consider adopting again, but wouldn’t rush into anything without a partner: “You know, somebody said to me once that you don’t want to be outnumbered by your children... he and I have become such a great little team that I almost wouldn’t want to rock that boat. But I’m always open, for sure.”

4. Hoda Kotb

The Today show host waited until later in life to start a family and it’s paid off. She’s been with her current partner since 2013 and together they adopted their first child, daughter Haley, in 2017. 2 years later, their happiness doubled when Hoda and Joel welcomed their second girl, Hope.

5. Ewan McGregor

McGregor and his wife Eve Mavrakis share 4 daughters together and one of them is adopted from Mongolia. In 2017, the actor separated from his wife and since then has been in a relationship with his Fargo co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

6. Frances McDormand

The Oscar-winning actress shares one child with her husband, famous director Joel Coen. The couple adopted their son Pedro from Paraguay in 1995. Interestingly, McDormand herself was adopted when she was one and a half years old.

7. Ty Burrell

The Modern Family star truly represents his famous TV show as he and his wife are parents to 2 adopted girls. Burrell once revealed that adoption is equally emotional to having kids by themselves: “In terms of the amount of ups and downs involved, we found them similar to those which our friends experienced biologically. There are extensive background searches and interviews, but really it’s about the birth mother. You hope you suit what she wants, as people.”

8. Meg Ryan

Ryan was also single when she adopted a 14-month-old girl from China in 2006. For the first 4 years, she and Daisy were on their own before Meg started dating singer John Mellencamp. The couple split in 2019, but being a single mom again is nothing that Ryan can’t handle.

9. Katherine Heigl

Heigl always knew she’d adopt a child as she grew up with her sister Meg, whom their parents adopted from South Korea. As a result, Katherine and her husband Josh Kelley have 2 adopted daughters: Naleigh from South Korea and Adalaide from the U.S. They also share a son, who was born in 2016.

10. Kristin Davis

The Sex and the City star raises her 2 adopted children by herself: daughter Gemma, whom she welcomed in 2011, and son Wilson, who joined their family in 2018. For Davis, the biggest priority is educating herself to have Gemma and Wilson grow up as part of the African-American community as much as she can.

11. Harrison Ford

Ford became a father to an adopted boy, Liam, in 2002 through his relationship with Calista Flockhart. She adopted her son a year before getting together with the famous actor and he was willing to join her on this journey through parenthood. The couple married in 2010. Harrison also has 4 adult children of his own from 2 previous marriages.

12. Angelina Jolie

Jolie famously has 3 adopted children: son Maddox from Cambodia, daughter Zahara from Ethiopia, and son Pax from Vietnam. In 2006, her ex-husband Brad Pitt also officially adopted Angelina’s children. They went on to have 3 more biological kids. The couple divorced in 2019 and reached a joint custody agreement.

13. Lionel Richie

The famous singer and his first wife informally adopted daughter Nicole in 1983 when she was 2 years old. 7 years later, Richie made the adoption official and still continues to be a loving father to the reality show star. Lionel later got divorced from Nicole’s mom and had 2 more children with his second wife.

14. Cate Blanchett

Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton adopted their daughter Edith in 2015 while already being parents to 3 biological children. The actress once revealed that they’d wanted to adopt ever since the birth of their first son and said that all of her kids were extremely welcoming to their adoptive sister.

15. Emma Thompson

In 2003, Thompson had 2 men officially enter her life: her husband David Wise, who she’d been with since 1995, and their adopted son Tindyebwa Agaba. Emma revealed that they met Tindyebwa when he was 16 years old, during a Refugee Council, and invited him to spend Christmas with them. The family got very close to the boy and, as a result, decided to adopt him. The couple also has a daughter named Gaia.

Do you have any experience with adoption? Share your story in the comments!