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Who’s Who of Adoption

Famous People That You Never Knew Were Adopted

Do you think you know anyone who was adopted? If not, think again. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz was adopted by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Superman was adopted, and so was Little Orphan Annie.

A lot of real-life people you know were adopted as well. In fact, history is alive with names and faces of adopted children. One of the most famous was Moses, who was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter when she found the baby floating in a basket on the Nile River. His own birth mother raised him, though, when she became a slave in Pharaoh’s palace.

The ancient King Sargon of Mesopotamia was also adopted, and Julius Caesar adopted his nephew, Octavian, to carry on his dynasty. In fact, archaeological evidence shows us that ancient civilizations often practiced adoption with great celebration when the adoptions occurred within royal families.

In Our Own Day and Age
Modern names might strike a more familiar chord with you. Did you know that Ted Danson, Gloria Vanderbilt, President Gerald R. Ford, Melissa Gilbert, Scott Hamilton, Steven Jobs, Debbie Harry, Jack Nicholson, Faith Daniels, Greg Louganis, and “Wendy’s” Dave Thomas are also adopted. Other names that may ring a bell are Charles Dickens, Daunte Culpepper, Edgar Allen Poe, Eric Dickerson, Faith Hill, Gary Coleman, Halle Berry, Ingrid Bergman, Jesse Jackson, John Lennon, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Malcolm X, Marilyn Monroe, Mark Twain, Nat King Cole, Nelson Mandela, Priscilla Presley, Ray Liotta, and Richard Burton.

Many celebrities and popular role models are also proud parents of adopted children: Angolina Jolie, Barbara Walters, Bette Davis, Bob Hope, Burt Reynolds, Calista Flockhart, Charles Bronson, Connie Chung & Maury Povich, Dan Marino, Diane Keaton, Donna Mills, Ed McMahon, George Burns, George Lucas, Isabella Rossellini, Jane Fonda, John Denver, Kate Capshaw, Kate Jackson, Kurt Vonnegut, Linda Rondstadt, Loni Anderson, Louis Gossett, Jr., Magic Johnson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne, Patti Labele, Paul Newman, President Ronald Reagan, Rosie O’Donnell, Sally Jessy Raphael, Sammy Davis, Jr., Sharon Stone, Stephen Speilberg, Tom Cruise, and Willie Mays.

In fact, two percent of our population is adopted. That is almost five million people. Not all of them are famous, though. Most of them are just the average “Jack and Jill” who live down the hill from you.

Famous birth parents abound as well and include such people as Andy Kaufman, David Crosby, Kate Mulgrew, Joni Mitchell, Rex Harrison, and Roseanne Barr.

The plus for any adopted child is that his or her birth mother had the courage to lovingly create and prepare an adoption plan, providing opportunities they may never have had otherwise. A birth mother who creates an adoption plan for her child isn’t saying goodbye to all ties, because she will always be an intricately woven thread in the fabric of her child’s biological heritage. She will remain part of their future for having done what she felt was best for her child from the beginning. That is what makes adoption such a wonderful option.

Birth mother’s Day is the second Saturday in May (the day before Mother’s Day) and is celebrated by birth mothers and their biological children annually in conjunction with Mother’s Day!

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