You probably did not know that some of your favorite stars were adopted.
Let’s take a look at four celebrities who did not grow up with their birth parents.
Nicole Richie
Before becoming famous with the reality show The Simple Life, Nicole Richie’s claim to fame was being the daughter of legendary singer and songwriter Lionel Richie. However, she was not her daughter until she was nine years old.
Born Nicole Escovedo, her biological parents were friends with Lionel, with her dad Peter Michael Escovedo being a musician who toured with him. When her birth parents were struggling financially and could not take care of her, Lionel and his wife Brenda let her into their home and their family.
Marilyn Monroe
Gladys Baker gave birth to Norma Jeane Mortenson, who later took the name Marilyn Monroe, on June 1, 1926. As Baker was having problems both financially and mentally, Mortenson went to live with foster parents.
She saw her mom over the years, but Baker’s instability made her unable to take care of her, and her friend Grace McKee became Marilyn’s guardian. Marilyn went to an orphanage and some foster homes over the years, and then back to McKee’s, but when they wanted to move, they got Marilyn married at the age of 16 so she would not become a ward of the state.
Steve Jobs
A couple in San Francisco named Paul and Clara Jobs failed at having children of their own.
To their luck, and the world’s, a baby boy was given up for adoption when he was born in 1955, and they took in little Steve Jobs.
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela’s father died, possibly of lung disease, when Nelson was only nine years old, and his mother took him to be placed under the guardianship of a tribal chief.
The chief and his wife became Nelson’s new parents, and he never felt they treated him any differently than their other children.