15 Celebrities You'd Never Expect Gave A Child Up For Adoption

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People have this misconception that celebrities do not deal with the same problems that “normal” people do. That they do not have the same struggles or the same hardships. Well, we at TheRichest are here to show you how wrong you are.

Celebrities are humans and they deal with all the same issues that us normal folks deal with, they just look better and have more money while dealing with these issues.

One of the most difficult things someone has to do is give a child up for adoption. This is not an easy decision and it is a choice that regardless of what you decide, will stick with you for the rest of your life. Not many people think of it, but celebrities have also given up kids for adoption. The reasons for doing so vary but the conclusion is the same, giving up a child is tough.

We at TheRichest thought it would be interesting to find the fifteen most famous celebrities who have given a child up for adoption, from cast members of the hit show Orange is the New Black, to one of the smartest men to have ever lived, this list is sure to surprise you.

Dog The Bounty Hunter

Duane Lee Chapman, who is better known as Dog The Bounty Hunter is probably the most famous bounty hunter on the planet. Chapman is a family oriented man who has a strong belief in a higher power,

“Faith is the substance of hope - of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. So if you can hope for it and imagine it, and keep imagining and hoping and seeing yourself driving a new car, or seeing yourself getting that job, or seeing yourself excel, seeing yourself help that person - that is faith," said Chapman when talking about religion.

When Chapman was just a teenager, his girlfriend got pregnant without telling him, she even had the child. Soon after the baby boy was born, the mother took her own life and the child was given up for adoption.

It was not until the son was an adult that Chapman even knew he was his dad.

Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent is best known as a gun-loving guitarist. What not many people know is that the NRA spokesperson gave his son Ted up for adoption back in 1968. This was a difficult decision for the couple but ultimately they knew they were not ready to become parents.

Nugent's girlfriend at the time accidentally got pregnant and it was not until 2010 that he and his son were reunited.However, the story gets even better, at that reunion in 2010, another child whom Ted had given up joined, a girl named Louis.

Nugent seems to be in a good place in his life and has gone on record saying “I'm healthy, have a loving and adorable family, great hunting dogs, a gravity defying musical career and most importantly, fuzzy-headed idiots hate me.”

David Crosby

David Crosby is a singer and songwriter who has been making music for quite some time. He is a true musician who makes music based on both his experience and his emotions. “My songs emerge from my life, or wherever they do, unbidden and unplanned and completely on a schedule of their own,” said Crosby.

Fans of Crosby do not know that in the early 60's the singer made a life altering the decision. He was a young man when his girlfriend at the time got pregnant. The pair decided to give up the little boy for adoption.

Years later, Crosby as his son, James Raymond, who got his father's musical talent, shared a stage at one of Crosby's shows. They have also made a few songs together, which is pretty cool!

Joni Mitchell

Before Joni Mitchell made a name for herself in the music industry, she actually gave a child up for adoption. Mitchell was 21 at the time and at the time, being an unwed mother without any financial stability was not seen as the best thing for the child.

“Back then, I didn't have a big organization around me. I was just a kid with a guitar, traveling around. My responsibility basically was to the art, and I had extra time on my hands. There is no extra time now. There isn't enough time” said Mitchell.

This hard decision stuck with her for her entire life and although she found a crazy amount of success, she always yearned to meet her child.

In 1997 after publicly announcing that she was searching for the child she gave birth to, Joni Mitchell was reunited with her daughter, Kilauren Gibb.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is arguably the most intelligent man the world has ever been graced with. Einstein is one of those men that will be remembered for the end of time due to the impact and influence he had on our world. His highly functioning brain is incomparable to anyone else and that is why he goes down in history.

Although this genius is super well known, not many know this fact about him. In 1902, Einstein's first wife had a daughter out of wedlock. This was something that at the time was unheard of. Having a child out of wedlock was one of the most damaging things a person can do to themselves and it is said that the child was put up for adoption for that reason.

Andy Kaufman

Andy Kaufman was known to be one of the quirkiest comedians in the industry. Kaufman who most of you probably recognize from the film Man on the Moon was an undeniably talented being.

Kaufman always marched to the beat of his own drum, “While all the other kids were out playing ball and stuff, I used to stay in my room and imagine that there was a camera on the wall. And I used to really believe that I was putting on a television show and that it was going out to somewhere in the world” said the comedian.

What many people are unaware of is that when the comedian was in high school he got his girlfriend pregnant and the pair decided to give the child up for adoption.

Kaufman sadly passed away in 1984 and there is little to nothing known about what that child he fathered is up to today.

Patti Smith

Patti Smith is an artist in every sense of the word. The singer, poet, songwriter and visual artist has always been a forced to be reckoned with.

Smith, who is now 70 has had quite an eventful life. At the age of 19, before becoming a household name, the singer got pregnant. She was already a high school drop out and figured the best choice to make for her child was adoption. The singer opened up about the situation stating, “Though I never questioned my decision to give my child up for adoption, I learned that to give life and walk away was not so easy.”

Her memoir Just Kids discusses this period of her life quite a bit and it is a great read for anyone who is curious to know more about Smith and her child.

Mercedes Ruehl

The Oscar-winning star, Mercedes Ruehl is quite legendary. Saying that Ruel, who is an undeniable talent in the industry, has had an interesting life would be an understatement. For those of you who do not recognize this actress, she was in iconic films like Gia, Married to The Mob and The Fisher King but what most of you do not know is that she is a mother who gave her child up for adoption.

In 1976, Ruehl made the difficult choice of giving her son up. That boy, Christopher was raised by his adoptive parents.

However, the actress and her son reunited and Christopher is actually the godfather of Jake, who is Ruehl's second son.

This is a beautiful and fantastic story about how family does not have to be traditional, which is something we at TheRichest love.

Rosanne Barr

Rosanne Barr is the woman who stated the following “There's a lot more to being a woman than being a mother, but there's a hell of a lot more to being a mother than most people suspect.” When you think about it, it is weird to think that this television mother has given up a child for adoption.

Rosanne Barr was 18, the year was 1971 when she got pregnant. Initially, she wanted to keep the child however, she soon realized she was not in any financial position to do so.

During her pregnancy, she lived at a Salvation Army for unwed mothers. It was not until 17 years after the birth of her child that this mother-daughter duo was reunited, all thanks to the tabloids.

Linda Lovelace

Linda Lovelace was a beautiful Bronx native who made a name for herself in the adult film industry. Best known for her role in the adult film Deep Throat, Lovelace was a notorious beauty. She went on record saying “Everyone that watches "Deep Throat" is watching me being raped”, which is pretty intense.

What many do not know about this adult film superstar is that when she was only 19 years old, she got pregnant. After receiving pressure from her mother, she decided to give her child up for adoption. This was something that Lovelace rarely opened up about and a topic that saddened her very much. She went on to appear in several adult films but sadly never got the chance to reunite with her son.

Lovelace passed away in 2002.

Kate Mulgrew

Orange Is The New Black became a favorite show to many of us. Kate Mulgrew who plays Red is one of the most loved characters on the show.

For many, it may be surprising to find out that in 1977 Mulgrew got pregnant. At the time, her soap opera career was starting to take off. She also had no desire to marry the babies. For those reasons, she decided to give her child up for adoption.

It was not until 2001 that Mulgrew was reunited with the child she gave birth to. Mulgrew opened up to People Magazine about what it felt like getting the call that her child had been found

“My world shrunk into a tunnel. It was like 8 a.m., and I was waiting for a taxi to come and take me to work. The phone rang, and this woman said, ‘We think we’ve found a match.’ Immediately I’m like … it’s hard to describe. What is it? Fear? Panic? Anxiety? It was definitely adrenaline.”

Catelynn Lowell

Catelynn Lowell actually became famous as one of the cast members of the television show 16 and Pregnant. Lowell and her now husband were just teenagers at the time and the world got to witness this tough decision.

For Lowell, it was very emotionally draining to put their daughter up for adoption but deep down they knew it was what was best for the child.

A few years later, the couple decided to really start their family and they welcomed a second baby into their lives and decided to get married.

Lowell has gone on to write a book titled Conquering Chaos which speaks a lot about her choice to give her first child up for adoption. This is our favorite quote from the book “Children and babies are the most innocent, vulnerable, helpless creatures on the planet. They’re relying on you for everything. Their lives will be defined by the choices made by the adults around them.”

Clark Gable

Clark Gable was one of the most legendary actors to ever grace us with his presence. The heartthrob was known to be quite the ladies man. Gable, who is Old Hollywood royalty was part of some of the most epic films of all time including It Happened One Night and the legendary Gone with the Wind.

What many do not know about this classic hunk is that in 1965, Gable was having an affair with Loretta Young and got her pregnant. The little girl was placed in an orphanage after she was born. 19 months later, Loretta Young went back and ended up adopting that same child that she had given birth to months before.

Gable sadly never acknowledged the child as his own. Gable was married five times and his youngest child, John Clark Gable was born four months after the actor's death.

Jay Thomas

Jay Thomas had big dreams as a kid and when his acting career began to take off he found out his girlfriend was pregnant.

This was a tough decision for the couple and after many discussions about what to do with this situation, adoption seemed like the best choice for their child. Thomas opened up about the situation stating “It was painful, We talked about getting married, but I realized that we would have the kid and then get divorced, and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want him to be mixed up in a bad situation that was not of his making.”

In 2007, the father and son were reunited and are said to be working on having a relationship with one another.

Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart is a British rockstar who is incredibly well known. Although Stewart has been in the spotlight for years, not many people know that when he was a teenager he impregnated his girlfriend.

At the time, the couple was young and financially unstable and decided that the best choice was to give their child up for adoption.

Sarah Streeter was that little girl that was given up and after her adoptive parents died, Stewart has been trying to build a relationship with her. He admitted to CNN that “I never felt like I was her dad because I didn’t take her to school, change her nappies, there was no paternal thing there, but I’m trying.”

We at TheRichest wish them all the best.

Sources: people.com, celebritybabies.people.com