Most people know about the famous Jolie-Pitt clan, but there are many other celebrities who have chosen adoption as well. The list may surprise you. Here are 27 celebs who have adopted children.
Lionel Richie
The singer is the adoptive father of fashion designer and TV personality, Nicole Richie. Nicole moved in with Lionel Richie and his then wife, Brenda Harvey-Richie, at the age of three because of issues between her biological parents—her biological father is one of Lionel’s former band mates. He officially adopted her six years later.
Julie Andrews
The actress and her late husband, director Blake Edwards, adopted two Vietnamese orphans, Amy Edwards and Joanna Edwards, in the ’70s.
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow is the single mom to two adopted sons. The singer adopted Wyatt in 2007 and Levi three years later.
Viola Davis
“The Help” actress and her husband, actor Julian Tennon, adopted their daughter, Genesis Tennon, in 2011.
Denise Richards
In 2011, after her divorce from Charlie Sheen, Denise Richards adopted her daughter Eloise as a single mother. Richards and Sheen have two biological daughters together: Lola and Sam.
Ty Burrell
The Modern Family star and his wife Holly adopted their first daughter, Frances, in 2010. Two years later, the couple adopted again, welcoming baby Greta into the family.
Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman
The former couple adopted their son Connor and daughter Isabella together while married. After the couple split in 2001, the two children chose to live with Cruise in Los Angeles instead of moving with Kidman to Australia.
Hugh Jackman
Jackman and wife of 20 years Deborra-Lee Furness have two adopted children: Oscar, 15, and Ava, 10. Jackman has said that he and Furness planned to have adopted and biological children but found out they couldn’t have children naturally.
Madonna
The singer adopted her son David in 2006 and daughter Mercy in 2009. Both children are from Malawi, Africa, but Madonna has received backlash from the Malawian people for “patronizing arrogance” relating to her adoptions.
Meg Ryan
Along with her biological son, Jack Quaid (who is also the son of Dennis Quaid), Meg Ryan has a daughter named Daisy that she adopted from China in 2006.
Sandra Bullock
The actress adopted her son Louis in 2010. There have also been reports that Bullock has recently adopted a baby girl, whose name hasn’t been released yet.
Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie
Along with their three biological children—Shiloh, 9; Knox, 7; and Vivienne, 7—Pitt and Jolie have three adopted children: son Maddox, who was adopted from Cambodia in 2001; daughter Zahara Marley, who was adopted from Ethiopia in 2005; and son Pax, who was adopted from Vietnam in 2007. It has been rumored that Pitt and Jolie are in the process of adopting again.
Connie Britton
The Nashville actress adopted her son Eyob from Ethiopia in 2011.
Steven Spielberg
The film director and wife Kate Capshaw have seven kids collectively. Their son Theo, 27, and daughter Mikaela, 19, are both adopted.
Katherine Heigl
After growing up with an adopted sister from South Korea, Heigl said she always knew she would adopt. The actress and husband Josh Kelley have two adopted daughters: Nancy, who was adopted in 2009 from South Korea, and Adalaide, who was adopted in 2012 in the U.S.
Jillian Michaels
The Biggest Loser personal trainer has two children with partner Heidi Rhoades. Rhoades gave birth to the couple’s son Phoenix in 2012. Shortly after he was born, Michaels and Rhoades adopted their daughter Lukensia from Haiti.
Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Hargitay, whom you may know as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has two adopted children—Amaya, 4, and Andrew, 4—with her husband, Peter Hermann. The couple also has a 9-year-old biological son named August.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron has two children. She adopted her son Jackson in 2012 and her daughter August in 2015.
Emma Thompson
The Saving Mr. Banks actress has two children with husband Greg Wise. Thompson gave birth to their daughter Gaia in 1999. But they adopted their son Tindyebwa in 2003 when he was 16 years old.
Mary-Louise Parker
The actress, known for her role on the show Weeds, adopted her daughter Caroline from Ethiopia in 2007. Parker also shares a son, William, 11, with actor Billy Crudup.
Diane Keaton
Keaton adopted her daughter Dexter in 1996 and her son Duke in 2001.
Michelle Pfeiffer
The actress and her husband David E. Kelley have two children: Claudia, 22, and John, 21. Pfeiffer was in the middle of the adoption process with Claudia when she and Kelley met.
Kristin Davis
The Sex and the City actress has one daughter, Gemma, whom she adopted in 2011.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Curtis and husband Christopher Guest have two adopted kids: Annie, 28, and Tom, 19.
Cate Blanchett
Along with their three biological children—Dashiell, 13; Roman, 11; and Ignatius, 7—Blanchett and her husband, playwright Andrew Upton, adopted a baby girl named Edith in March.
Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Alley and her then-husband Parker Stevenson adopted William, 23, and Lillie, 21, after Alley was told she may not be able to have children.
Calista Flockhart
Flockhart adopted her son Lima, 14, when he was a baby before she met her current husband, Harrison Ford.