Hugh Jackman, 54, and Deborra-Lee Furness, 67, are one of Australia’s most successful A-list couples, both personally and professionally.
The talented husband and wife duo boast successful careers in their own right and have been married for over 25 years.
But behind their seemingly picture-perfect lives, the couple struggled to start a family with Deb going through several miscarriages and failed rounds of IVF.
“We did IVF and Deb had a couple of miscarriages. I’ll never forget it, the miscarriage thing… It happens to one in three pregnancies. But it’s very, very rarely talked about. It’s almost secretive,” Hugh explained of their heartbreaking fertility journey during an appearance on the Katie Couric talk show in 2012.
“It’s a good thing to talk about it. It’s more common and it is tough. There’s a grieving that you have to go through,” he added.
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While the couple always wanted to adopt, they fast-tracked their plans after realising they wouldn’t be able to conceive naturally. They initially started to look at adopting within Australia but were forced to move their search to America as a result of complicated local adoption laws.
They are now the proud parents to 17-year-old daughter, Ava Eliot Jackman, and 22-year-old son, Oscar Maximilian Jackman.
“I don’t think of them as adopted – they’re our children. We feel things happened the way they are meant to. Obviously, biologically wasn’t the way we were meant to have children,” the Wolverine star told the Herald Sun of his family unit.
“Now, as we go through life together, sure there are challenges, but everyone’s in the right place with the right people. It sounds airy-fairy, but it’s something we feel very deeply.”
After going through the arduous adoption process herself, Deb was inspired to use her platform to raise awareness and become an adoption advocate, campaigning to change international adoption laws to make it easier for loving families to welcome in-need children into their homes.
“I can’t think of anything more important than ensuring that every child in this world has at least one person who has their best interests at heart, someone who cares about them so they know they are loved and valued,” the actress explained in an impassioned essay for The Australian Women’s Weekly in 2011.
She continued: “Every child deserves to be educated and nurtured so they can grow in a positive way and be able to eventually become a happy and contributing member of their community.”
Keep scrolling as we take a look at the Jackman family album!
The most recent snap of Hugh and Deborra-Lee’s son Oscar was taken at 2018 US Open.
Ava seen arriving in Japan with her mum in 2019.
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Oscar Maximilian Jackman, now 22, joined the Jackman clan after his birth in California in May 2000.
Hugh Jackman rescues own children
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After struggling to fall pregnant naturally and going through several rounds of IVF, Hugh and Deb decided to look to adoption to start their family.
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“I don’t think of them as adopted ― they’re our children. Deb and I are believers in… I suppose you could call it destiny. We feel things happened the way they are meant to,” Hugh told the Herald Sun of his family.
“Obviously, biologically wasn’t the way we were meant to have children. Now, as we go through life together, sure there are challenges, but everyone’s in the right place with the right people.”
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The family divide their time between New York and Sydney.
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In 2014, Deb’s tireless campaigning around changing stringent adoption legislation was acknowledged after she won the NSW Australian Of The Year award.
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“Children are our most vulnerable citizens. They have to depend on us grown-ups to make the best decisions for their wellbeing. There are too many orphans in the world and we cannot process families fast enough. Communities need to be strengthened economically to prevent child abandonment,” Deb explained in an essay for The Australian Women’s Weekly.
“Any children who don’t have a permanent family should be placed in foster care or small group homes rather than large institutions.”
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Nothing beats a ride on dad’s shoulders! Hugh carries around Ava during an outing to Sydney’s Bondi Beach in 2012.
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Ava Eliot Jackman, now 17, joined the family in 2005.
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Meet the Jackmans! Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness with their daughter Ava and son Oscar.
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