Kate Mulgrew
Kate Mulgrew of ‘Orange Is The New Black’ became pregnant in 1977. It wasn’t the best timing because her career was just starting to take off and she didn’t want to be with the baby’s father. So, she ended up giving her daughter for adoption. The two did reunite but not until 2001.
Kate Mulgrew
Roseanne Barr
Did you know Roseanne was pregnant way back in 1971 when she was only 19 years old? At first, she hoped to keep the baby but realized she wasn’t able to support herself and the child financially. In fact, when she was pregnant she lived in a Salvation Army home! She was reunited with her daughter 17 years later after a tabloid magazine discovered her. Her name is Brandi Brown.
Roseanne Barr
Duane Lee Chapman AKA “Dog the Bounty Hunter”
When Chapman was just a teenager, his girlfriend became pregnant and didn’t tell him. Yikes! She gave birth, gave the child up for adoption, then took off to live her own life. Chapman didn’t know he had a son until his son was a grown adult.
Duane Lee Chapman AKA Dog The Bounty Hunter
Ted Nugent
Musician and NRA spokesman, Ted Nugent, gave up his son for adoption in 1968. His girlfriend became pregnant by accident and the couple wasn’t ready for a kid. Nugent and his son were reunited in 2010, with actually another child named Louisa who he also gave up for adoption!
Ted Nugent
Linda Lovelace
Linda Lovelace is an adult film star. She was pregnant with her son when she was just 19. Her mom pressured her to give him up for adoption, so she did. She never saw him again.
Linda Lovelace
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein’s first daughter, Lieserl, was born out of wedlock in 1902. She was most likely put up for adoption because of this. It wasn’t culturally acceptable to have a child out of wedlock in 1902.
Albert Einstein
Joni Mitchell
We are extra surprised by this one! Joni Mitchell has a child and gave it up for adoption when she was 21. This was back in 1965 before she was a big star. She was unwed and didn’t have much money so she believed she was doing right by her child. She met her daughter Kilauren Gibb in 1997 after conducting a successful public search. We’re happy for them!
Joni Mitchell
Hank Williams, Sr.
This is pretty crazy. Hank Williams’ has a daughter named Jett. She was born out of wedlock just five days after Hank died from heart failure. Hank’s mom, Lillian, adopted her, but she died when Jett was only 2. Jett was later adopted by another family in Alabama. She definitely didn’t have the easiest start to her life, right?
Hank Williams Sr.
Clark Gable
Clark Gable and his girlfriend Loretta Young had a child in 1935. The couple decided to put the baby in an orphanage. Loretta returned to adopt the baby 19 months later, but Gable never wanted to be a part of the child’s life.
Clark Gable
Patti Smith
At age 19, Patti Smith was working in a factory in New Jersey when she became pregnant. Her parents pushed her to go live in a foster home to hide the pregnancy. She did and later put the child up for adoption. She never saw the child again.
Patti Smith
Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart has 8 children! Can you believe that? He doesn’t have the best relationship with all of them, especially the first one. Her name is Sarah and he fathered her when he was only 17. Want to know who the mom is? None other than Samatha Boffey. The couple gave up the child for adoption. Sarah first met Rod in the 80s, but they didn’t have a close relationship until 2007.
Rod Stewart
David Crosby
David Crosby is the founder of Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash & Young. He gave his son up for adoption in 1962 and was reunited with him in 1994. Crosby’s son is named Raymond and seems to be following in his dad’s footsteps! He is a musician and is playing in his dad’s new band, CPR.
David Crosby
Dirk Benedict
Dirk Benedict is best known for his role in Battlestar Galactica. He didn’t even know about his son until he was 30 years old! His son’s name is John Talbert. He was born in 1968 and his mom put him up for adoption. Benedict had no idea about the birth or pregnancy.
Dirk Benedict
Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman got his high school girlfriend pregnant by accident! The young couple decided to give the child up for adoption. The child is a girl named Maira Colonna. She only learned of who her father was after he died in 1984.
Andy Kaufman
Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra
Do you know the MTV show 16 and Pregnant? It was the precursor to Teen Mom on MTV. Catelynn and Tyler were featured on the show and gave up their child for adoption. On the show, they went through the process and believe they help others in similar situations.
Catelynn Lowell And Tyler Baltierra
Mercedes Ruehl
In 1976, Ruehl gave up her son Christopher for adoption in 1976. She was 28 years old at the time. She stated she did this because she didn’t have “the emotional development or the economic capability” to raise a child. She met her son, Christopher, when he was 21, and Ruehl actually later adopted another son, Jake, in 1995.
Mercedes Ruehl
Jay Thomas
Jay Thomas is a fairly famous actor. He gave up his son when his career was just taking off. He and his girlfriend didn’t think they could financially support themselves and a child so they gave it up for adoption. Thomas was finally reunited with his son in 2007.
Jay Thomas
Lucille Ball
A woman named Cassandria Carlson publicly claimed her grandmother was Lucille Ball in 2014. She claimed that Ball gave up her mom for adoption in 1947. No one is sure how valid this claim is, but it could be true!
Lucille Ball
Jack Wagner
Jack Wagner is most well known for his role on General Hospital. He was shocked in 1988 when he learned he had a daughter! He didn’t even know about the pregnancy! It was actually the result of a one-night stand. The mother placed the child up for adoption secretly. Wagner and his daughter were eventually reunited, but not for another 23 years.
Jack Wagner
Peter Michael Escovedo (father of Nicole Richie)
Lionel Richie asked his friend, Peter Michael Escovedo to adopt and raise his daughter, Nicole when he was just 3. Did you know that? We didn’t! Later on, Escovedo and his wife couldn’t afford to keep Nicole, so Richie and his new wife Brenda Harvey adopted Nicole when she was 9.
Peter Michael Escovedo Father Of Nicole Richie
Flavio Briatore
Flavio Briatore is a Formula One racing star and also owns a soccer team. He had a child with none other than Heidi Klum! Pretty interesting. The two were just starting to date when Heidi Klum became pregnant with their daughter, Leni. They broke up pretty quickly after her birth. Klum went on to marry singer Seal, and Briatore agreed to let Seal officially adopt his daughter.
Flavio Briatore
President Grover Cleveland
This is pretty surprising, to say the least! President Grover Cleveland fathered a child with a woman named Mary Halpin. They named the baby Oscar Folsom Cleveland. Oscar was left at a mental asylum where Halpin had in fact given birth to him. He went on to be adopted by age 5 by James King and his wife.
President Grover Cleveland
Lord Nelson
Admiral Horatio Nelson famously won the Battle of Trafalgar for the British. He had a daughter out of wedlock with his lover at the time named Emma. She was also known as Lady Hamilton! At the time it was impossible to claim that the child was fathered by Hamilton, so she decided to give the child up for adoption. She actually pretended the girl wasn’t hers! Now it gets really weird. Nelson and Lady Hamilton actually adopted their own baby after Emma’s husband died. They pretended the child was an orphan and not their own child. They decided to name her Horatia.
Lord Nelson
Queen Elizabeth I
It seems like QEI may not have been such a virgin after all! She allegedly had a child with her lover Robert Dudley. Because their child was born out of wedlock, they gave it up for adoption. It seems a bit weird to us, though. How could the Queen hide being pregnant for 9 months from the public?
Queen Elizabeth I
Lord Byron
Poet Lord Byron is also known as George Gordon. He fathered a daughter with Claire Clairmont. The child was raised by her mother until she was 15 months old. Byron decided to take over and forced Clairmont to give the child up for adoption. Byron then took the little girl to Italy. He changed her name from Alba to Allegra and then left her at a convent to be cared for by nuns. She sadly died just one year later.
Lord Byron
Strom Thurmond
If you don’t know who this is, we can help you. Strom Thurmond is a previous US senator who was famous for supporting segregation. It shocked the public when it was revealed he had a child with a 16 year old black maid. It wasn’t revealed until after his death.
Strom Thurmond
Philomena Lynott
Philomena Lynott is well known for being “the unwed Irish Catholic mother” who had a hard time raising her son alone. It was revealed later in her life that she gave up multiple children for adoption. She stated, “I didn’t want my mother to know I had two more children.” She continued, “It was bad enough having Philip.” Wow. Her son, Phil Lynott died in 1986, before ever meeting his half-siblings Philomena and Leslie.
Philomena Lynott
Faith Ireland
Famous powerlifter turn judge, Faith Ireland, was in college when she became pregnant. She was just 22 years old and decided to give the baby up for adoption. When reflecting on her decision, she stated it was “one of the worst things that ever happened in my life.” She eventually met her daughter and formed a relationship in 1997.
Faith Ireland
Sinead Cusack
In 2007, Sinead Cusack Irish politician Richard Boyd Barrett was her child. She gave up the child for adoption in 1968. The two met and reconciled in 2004 and she even appeared on the campaign trail at his side!
Sinead Cusack
Gavin Rossdale
Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale is actually the father of famous model Daisy Lowe! He had an affair with Pearl Lowe who was married at the time, and then they had a daughter together! She was raised as Handwerger’s daughter. When she was 14, Pearl asked her to take a DNA test to reveal who her real father was. Gavin initially cut off all contact with her, but the two went on to reconcile. We had no idea!
Gavin Rossdale
