Adoption

"I don't think of them as adopted – they're our children."

''Art healed me.''

Donna Freed, 55, shares her surprising discovery with Take 5: My sister narrowed her eyes at me. “You know we were all adopted, right?” Leah*, nine, said. She knew I had no idea. I stood rooted to the floor in the doorway of her bedroom, as shock washed over me. It was 1973 and I […]

In the wake of destruction, we found homes for hounds

Ten years later, Lily tells the whole story.

It could be an exciting year for the happy couple!

Why she is determined to end the cycle.

For these women, adopting a greyhound was life-changing. They tell Take 5's Mitchell Jordan why welcoming them into the family has been the best decision they’ve ever made.

''They will shine a light on every one of your flaws.''

An internet search uncovered an amazing secret for this family.

The teenager is overjoyed to have met his birth siblings and aunt.

The exciting news has to do with an important storyline…

The Hollywood star’s boyfriend Bryan Randall won’t stop until he officially becomes ‘Dad’ to her kids.

It's the animals that always pay the price for our impulsiveness.

Mum's the word when it comes to her children.

'With him I felt so connected sexually, emotionally and physically.'

This is such a ray of light!

Days after celebrating a national apology, we have prominent columnists dismissing decades of suffering as a myth perpetuated by "the Left".

They'd make such brilliant parents!

Lacey Dunkin always dreamed of becoming a mother, but she never expected at 34, she would have six daughters.

When Calley adopted Pikelet, he had to walk sideways because of his deformed legs and curved spine. But just look at him now!

At just 15, Maureen gave birth to a baby boy in secret. Not even her husband knows the truth. Now, 38 years later, her adopted son wants to meet her.

“Love Child brings back lots of memories every time I watch it ... I think [it] sometimes sugar-coats the reality.”

The girls have definitely got their mum's star power.

Looks like the actress and her rocker hubby are ready to start a family!

Australian actress Nicole Kidman has made a stunning entrance at the 89th Academy Awards.

As Madonna settles into her new life with twins Esther and Stella, their biological dad has come forward - claiming that he never meant to give his daughters away permanently.

The 58-year-old singer obtained permission from the Malawian High Court to adopt twin girls.

The 58-year-old singer has obtained permission from the Malawian High Court.

Get ready to pawww your heart out! These kittens are all kinds of cute and they’re raising awareness for pet adoption.

Adopting them has helped our family learn and understand a whole new level of love.

The grieving mother has released a heartbreaking statement as it is revealed that her son took his own life.

Nicole Kidman candidly spoke about the "universal curiosity" that comes with adoption.

The mother-of-two has opened up about her sweet family in a candid new interview.

The actress looks blissfully content in this charming new family photo!

One year on from the day she ran away, Chelsea O’Donnell is rebuilding her relationship with her mum.

It was a family affair for Cate Blanchett when she and her husband, Andrew Upton, took their four kids for a dip in Victoria's Peninsula Hot Springs recently.

“We want them to know where they come from and how they came to be part of our family.”

Warning: You might need some tissues handy

Their parents abandoned them when they were born with terminal illnesses – but one woman is making sure these sick babies don’t die alone.

Eve Ash was in her 50s when a DNA test revealed a life-long lie.

After a gruelling three-year wait, Jennifer Murrow Grover and her husband James were finally able to welcome their adopted sons into their loving arms.

Is Sandra Bullock about to take her romance with boyfriend Bryan Randall to the next level?

Australian Labradoodle, Mr. Reagan, has 60,000 followers on Instagram. But the two-year-old pup isn't just famous for his hilarious outfits.

This makes it baby number seven for the Hollywood couple

The biological mother changed her mind about the adoption

A new report released has revealed that adoption numbers are at an all-time low.

If you couldn't conceive naturally, which option would you choose to have children; IVF or adoption?

A couple surprised their three daughters by putting their adopted son under the Christmas tree... the video of their reaction is adorable!

Read this mum's beautiful adoption story of how it took her and her husband nine long years to be united with their daughter.

This mum shares her journey to adopt her daughter and her thoughts on the changes Australia needs to make to improve the adoption process.

They say Christmas is about giving and mum Courtney Solstad certainly delivered.

Actress Sandra Bullock has expanded her family of two with a three-year-old baby girl from Louisiana.

A New Zealand couple are living every parent's worst nightmare after they discovered their surrogate baby isn't their biological child.

Cate Blanchett talks about why she and Andrew have adopted a baby girl.

“Unless you have walked in somebody else’s shoes, you can never understand their journey. I am 100 per cent for adoption.”

Hugh Jackman’s phenomenal wife, Deborra-Lee Furness joined The Project’s panel to discuss her husband and continue her campaign for Australian adoption.

“I would have given anything to have that young child as my own, that living, breathing little human being, filled with potential, a life story unwritten.”

And she can't stop smiling!

Five years after adopting her son, Louis, 5, Sandra and her new beau, Bryan Randall, have reportedly added another addition to their growing family.

And baby makes seven! Brad and Ange are "officially" adopting a son from war-torn Syria.

Nearly 70 years after their birth, a pair of twin brothers have met for the first time in an emotional reunion.

Fresh reports from the US claim Jennifer Aniston has adopted a baby girl after secretly tying the knot to long-time beau, Justin Theroux.

It's love at first sight.

She’s already the proud mother to four-year-old son Jackson, who she adopted from South Africa in 2012, and now actress Charlize Theron has reportedly added to her brood!

And the name the Hollywood star picked for her is simply delightful

Cate Blanchett hit another fashion home run last night, stepping out in an elegant black dress at the Helpmann Awards.

A family in the US has come under fire for 'advertising' their 4-year-old child on Facebook after claiming they no longer 'have time' for her.

Kate McGlade has launched a public appeal help her reconnect with the birth parents she never knew.

New reports today suggest Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may be looking to expand their brood. Again. Details here.

She was the nanny named Fran for over six years, and now at 57, Fran Drescher is ready to be a mum. Fran, 57, and her new husband  Shiva Ayyadurai, 51, who she married in an intimate beachside ceremony at their Malibu home in September,  are thinking about  expanding their family and adopting. “We talk […]

Cate Blanchett confirms she and husband Andrew Upton adopted a baby girl on the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of Cinderella.

Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew Upton have welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family.

Congratulations to Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton on the adoption of their new baby girl - Edith Vivian Patricia Upton

Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton have added to their family and adopted a baby girl.

Jackie Stricker-Phelps on why Australia needs to overhaul its adoption and foster care system.

Adoption is at an all time low in Australia – over the last 25 years there has been a 76 per cent decline in the adoption of children. So what is going wrong?

Singer Susan Boyle has revealed that she would like to adopt a child.

Deborra-lee Furness has asked that people stop calling her 'lucky' in relation to her life or her famous husband, Hugh Jackman.

Singer Ricky Martin reportedly told journalists this week he wants a daughter.

Deborra-lee Furness wants everyone to adopt change.

Emma Thompson’s husband, actor Greg Wise, has opened up about the couple’s failed attempts to conceive through IVF and how "upsetting" the process was.

Tour de France champion Cadel Evans has opened up about the first time he saw his adopted son Robel in an emotional interview. Speaking in the November issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly Cadel and his wife Chiara recall clicking on an email attachment and opening a photo of the Ethiopian orphan who would become […]

Phil Evans came into his mother’s life on November 14, 1950. The circumstances of his birth in Sydney’s Crown St Women’s Hospital were nothing remarkable. From what he’s been told the place was “a baby factory” at the time. But rather than going home in his 16-year-old mother’s arms when she left, he stayed alone […]

Tears were shed in the Great Hall at Parliament House today as the Prime Minister delivered a long awaited national apology to Australians affected by forced adoption.

A surrogate has revealed she was offered $10,000 to abort the baby she was carrying when its biological parents found out it was severely disabled. Crystal Kelley was 29 when she contacted a surrogacy agency to enquire about carrying a child for a couple struggling with fertility issues. The agency put her in contact with […]

Like it or loathe it, sometimes there’s no denying the power of social media. A US couple has been granted a Facebook miracle after raising $33,000 to adopt a child in just three days. Jack and Jessica Hance, a youth minister and family minister from Louisiana, started their journey through the complicated adoption process more […]

The NSW government has vowed to make adoption easier, for both parents who desperately want children, and children who desperately need safe, stable families. There were just 65 children adopted locally in 2011-12, a rise from 45 the year before. By contrast, there are more than 35,000 children living in “out-of-home” or foster care. Most […]

Bronwyn and Scott McNamara, a Sunshine Coast couple were all set to become Mum and Dad to an adopted Ethiopian child, but in June it was announced that the Ethiopia Program, which has facilitated the adoption of more than 600 Ethiopian children over 20 years, would close. “This has been a tough decision, but a […]

The federal government has cut its inter-country adoption agreement with Ethiopia, one of the most popular programs for Australians and the only one to allow single women to adopt. Prospective parents who have been waiting up to five years for a child were told of the closure yesterday. Related: Paul Howes – My gut-wrenching adoption […]

Union boss Paul Howes is tipped to be a future Labor leader, but just 16 years ago he was living on the streets after his adoption "happy ending" soured. Here, he shares his story.

Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels is getting closer to becoming a parent, a life-long dream of the 37-year-old who left her position as trainer on The Biggest Loser in the US to focus on adoption. After beginning the adoption process in 2010 within the Democratic Republic of Congo, she has now been paired up with a […]

Deborra-lee Furness headed a star-studded guest list at a breakfast launching National Adoption Awareness week in Sydney on Monday. She was joined by Rebecca Gibney, Sandra Sully, Layne Beachley, Professor Kerryn Phelps and MP Bronwyn Bishop, as well as actor Jack Thompson, who gave a passionate speech about the opportunities and love he was given […]

Actress Deborra-lee Furness has joined forces with the celebrity “orphan doctor” to save the world’s forgotten children. Bryce Corbett reports. To look at Deborra-lee Furness and Dr Jane Aronson on paper, they make the most unlikely of duos. One is an accomplished actress in her own right and the wife of Aussie Hollywood sensation, Hugh […]

Abandoned as a toddler on the streets of Calcutta, Irani’s future was bleak until an Australian couple decided to adopt her. Jordan Baker charts the bureaucratic nightmare that almost destroyed a little girl’s chance of a new life. Irani Bate’s first years on earth will forever remain a mystery. No one knows anything of her […]

Hollywood actress and model Denise Richards has announced she has adopted a baby girl domestically, introducing Eloise Joni Richards to her family. Denise, who has two girls in seven-year-old Sam and six-year-old Lola with ex-husband Charlie Sheen, welcomed the youngster into her family on June 30. Her representative confirmed to People magazine that Denise had […]

Ruby Mei Zhi Xia McNeil came into her parents’ lives with nothing but a nighty and a pair of plastic shoes. With three years of her life to fill in, Fiona and Jamie McNeil were sure there was more to know about their Chinese adoptive daughter and they were determined to find out. The McNeils, […]

When Angelina Jolie adopted an abandoned boy in Cambodia, no one realised she would go on to pour millions of dollars into his homeland and make a lasting difference to some of the world’s poorest people. As the town of Samlout in north-western Cambodia comes into view, naked children and crumbling shacks give way to […]

Dr Jane Aronson is a world authority on adoption. She has overseen the placement of thousands of children, including to celebrities Angelina Jolie and Mary-Louise Parker. Angelina credits her with saving her daughter Zahara’s life: “My daughter is one of those children whom Jane helped have a chance to live, and I am forever grateful.” […]

The Weekly's Editor-in-chief Helen McCabe on why the magazine is campaigning to change Australia's adoption laws.