8 Celebrities Celebrating The Fact That They Were Adopted

Being adopted by music legend Lionel Richie might make Nicole Richie the luckiest kid ever. Speaking on the subject Nicole said, 'My parents were friends with Lionel. They trusted that they would be better able to provide for me.'

At just three months old Blondie front-woman Debbie Harry was adopted by Catherine and Richard Harry. Talking to the Mail On Sunday, Harry said, 'If anything, I think it freed me up to become the person I wanted to be.'

Adopted by his grandmother after his parents separated, Jamie Foxx has always spoken positively about the experience, telling O Magazine, 'I did have a role model. Although my parents weren't around, my grandparents adopted me when I was 7 months old. I was never short on the love of a mother and father, though it came from an earlier generation of family.'

If there's ever an example of adoption not stopping you from achieving your dreams it's actress and style icon Marilyn Monroe. Clearly, she felt the same way, saying, 'The thing I want more than anything else? I want to have children. I used to feel for every child I had, I would adopt another.'

Olympic gold medalist and gymnast Simone Biles was adopted by her grandparents as a child, telling USA Today, 'When I was younger, I was adopted by my grandparents, which are now my parents. 
I call them Mum and Dad. Everything's just been so normal.'

Adopted at just five days old Kristin Chenoweth recently wrote a piece for the Huffington Post speaking about her experience, 'I can honestly say being adopted was one of the best things to ever happen to me,' she added. 'It was never something that was hidden from me and it is not something I have ever been ashamed of. I recognise how fortunate I am to have parents who love and support me unconditionally. The fact that they are not my biological parents does not change the fact that they are simply, my parents.'

Legendary actress Frances McDormand was not only adopted herself, but then went on to adopt her son as well, saying, 'I'm adopted, as is my son, and the minute you smell them there's a pheromonal reaction between the parent and their child. My son smelled like a cinnamon bun, and that smell entered into my biological being, and it became an imperative that I keep him alive at all costs, so then there's this monster—this tiger, or lion—that comes forward in you to protect them.'

Glee star Jenna Ushkowitz is all about speaking openly, and positively, about her adoption as a child, 'I speak about family and adoption because it 100% changed my life and who I am. It definitely played a very large role into just learning how to be grateful for what you have and being fulfilled in a way that a lot of adopted kids don't feel.'