There’s a lot to be said about adoption. On one hand, we have people who are willingly giving up a child. Most often, they do so with no idea of where the child will end up or what kind of life they will have. Imagine how dire their own situation must be for them to feel confident that most any other life that finds them will be a better one.

Sometimes, this is the case. On the other hand, there are the adoptive parents who open their hearts to the children of strangers.

Behind the scenes of all of Hollywood’s glitz and glamour, there are true stories of real people with real tales to tell. They are celebrities — today, but for their whole lives, they’ve been adopted. They were born to a mother and father who felt for various reasons that they couldn’t be the parents these destined-for-stardom individuals needed.

Some celebrities are more open about their journeys than others. Some will embrace their adoptive childhood and accept that this was the way it was supposed to be. Others might live with resentment of their birth parents that torments them. For a few of them, it might lead to addiction and other lifestyle habits that threatened their livelihoods.

One thing’s for sure: how their lives started definitely didn’t hinder how most of them ended up. These celebrities have garnered a level of fame that spans the globe. They have earned their stripes. In a way, they can be grateful to the adoptive parents that gave them up. Had they not, they probably wouldn’t have ended up living a lifestyle of the rich and famous.

15 Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Born November 23, 1987

Snooki garnered her infamous nickname when friends dubbed her such after a character in the 2001 film titled Save the Last Dance. She was adopted by Italian-American parents and raised in New Jersey, but her ethnic roots run deep through Chile.

Snooki hasn’t been secretive about the fact that she was adopted, but she hasn’t been very forthcoming with details, either. Truthfully, it seems like she’s actually not all that aware of the details herself. She’s mentioned having roughly ten other brothers and sisters, and knowing that her birth parents placed her for adoption because they couldn’t afford another child. Hey, what’s one more when you’ve got ten at home?

She isn’t closed off to meeting her birth parents and her siblings, but she hasn’t gone out of her way to make it happen yet, either. Like many adoptees, becoming a parent herself is what made Snooki realize how difficult of a decision her parents made giving her up.

14 Steve Jobs, Born February 24, 1955

Born to Abdul Fattah Jandali and Joanne Carol Schieble, his birth mother’s father wouldn’t allow her to marry Abdul when she became pregnant due to him being Muslim. Jandali soon left Schieble and the young mother placed the baby for adoption. Still, the couple would later marry and have a daughter, Mona, who would become a well-known author.

Paul and Clara Jobs would adopt the baby boy who would go on to be one of the most famed inventors of our time. While Steve would reconnect with his birth mother in the 1980s and later meet his sister, Mona, he only met his father in an inadvertent manner while eating in the restaurant his bio-Dad owned.

Neither did much more than shake hands. Steve never regretted being adopted and remained thankful his mother didn’t choose abortion when she easily could have.

13 Nicole Richie, Born September 21, 1981

Born to Karen Moss and Peter Michael Escovedo, the couple were close friends with singer Lionel Richie and agreed to let Nicole live with him when she was only 3-years old, because they couldn’t afford to provide well for her. In the beginning, Lionel was merely Nicole’s guardian and caretaker.

By the time she was 9-years old, Richie and his then-wife Brenda Harvey formally adopted Nicole. She would soon be lavished with gifts galore from both parents when a story would break of Lionel’s affair with another woman that would bring the couple to divorce and fighting over everything between them — including Nicole.

Lionel spotted Nicole dancing around at a Prince concert as a toddler and when he happened upon her parents backstage, they talked of the trouble they were having. It was his insistence in that moment that Nicole come and stay with him while they worked their troubles out. It was never very clear why they didn’t end up taking Nicole back, but the fashion trendsetter and tabloid Princess has never complained.

12 Melissa Gilbert, Born May 8, 1964

Known best to most of the world as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Melissa Gilbert charmed her way into the living rooms of families across the globe as the spunky young girl coming of age on NBC’s Little House on the Prairie. Her career has spanned roughly 50 years, and fans continue to delight in watching her perform. Melissa even served as President of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001 to 2005.

Behind the scenes of her fairytale celebrity life, it was a secret from the limelight for some time that Melissa was adopted. Placed for adoption at the time of birth by biological parents David Darlington and Kathy Wood, Melissa was adopted just one day later by comedian Paul Gilbert and his wife, actress Barbara Crane.

When she was born, Kathy was a dancer and her bio-Dad David, a stock car racer. The product of an affair, Melissa was placed for adoption when the couple realized they couldn’t afford to care for the six children they already had between them from their marriages to other people and add a seventh.

11 Faith Hill, Born September 21, 1967

Ted and Edna Perry adopted this baby girl in infancy and named her Audrey Faith Perry. Raised in the small town of Star, Mississippi, her birth mother, Paula Conway White must certainly have been proud of the woman Faith Hill has become today. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2007, but Faith was lucky enough to have reunited with her long before that.

Faith’s birth father, Edwin White, died when Faith was just 10-years old; she was never able to meet him. Though unmarried at the time of Faith’s birth, Edwin and Paula did later marry and had a son, Zachary.

While it is unclear why Paula decided to give Faith up for adoption, rumors have circulated that she was originally planning on an abortion before changing her mind and choosing to give her daughter to a couple that would raise her in a loving home. Faith has remarked that she has no ill feelings toward her birth mother and feels grateful that she let her live. She certainly has a lot to be thankful for.

10 Edgar Allen Poe, Born January 19, 1809

Never formally adopted, Edgar was only raised by his parents for the first two years of his life. His father, actor David Poe, Jr. abandoned his family when Edgar was just a year old. Only one short year later, his mother Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe would die from pulmonary tuberculosis.

Edgar’s brother, Henry, would go on to be raised by his grandparents, but they couldn’t manage to take Edgar and his little sister Rosalie, who would be raised by another family. Edgar was taken in by John Allan and his family. This is where he would garner the middle name Allan.

The Allan family provided much wealth and education to young Poe. He was able to travel to Europe and even enroll in prestigious schools that would advance his writing skills and deepen his appreciation for philosophy and poetry. While John Allan was reportedly quite stern with his new son at times, he was also known for spoiling him.

9 Skrillex

Skrillex is known for being the creator of Dubstep, his beats and talent, but what you may not know is that he was adopted as a child. A fact he didn't know until he was 16. His adopted mother had told him stories of having been in labor with him for 12 hours, but he learned the truth when she felt she couldn't lie to him any longer.

In fact, Skrillex was the birth child of a family friend. And it was through slow coming information that he realized he was adopted. In fact he said in an interview that it was much like living on the Truman Show. It felt like everyone knew but him and they were watching him.

To this day he has little contact with his birth mother. In fact they went five years without speaking to each other.

8 Ray Liotta, Born December 18, 1954

Born Raymond Julian Vicimarli, this famed actor knew from a young age that he was adopted. He actually did a report for show-and-tell on it when he was in kindergarten. Yes, that young. When he was six-months old, his birth parents placed him for adoption. A wonderful couple by the names of Alfred and Mary Liotta would come to be his parents for life.

Ray has spoken publicly that he wondered from a young age why his mother would give him up, but as he grew up, he realized it was the best thing for him. He did reunite with his biological parents when he was in his 40s and also discovered he had half siblings and a full sister.

He’s remarked that by the time he met them, he was grateful for the information and the bond he was able to form with them, but that he had no negative feelings toward them and felt he had worked through all of his demons regarding adoption long before that.

7 Sarah MacLachlan, Born January 28, 1968

Sarah has been through some serious struggles in her life, and nothing would be more difficult than making it through her first pregnancy with daughter, India and having her adoptive mother pass away at the time. The devastating news could’ve rocked her world and sent her spiraling downward the way it does for many artists, but instead she embraces her pregnancy knowing that her mother’s spirit was still with her every step of the way.

The mother that raised her. That’s the only mother she knows and that’s who comes to mind when she thinks of mom. Sarah was 9-years old when she found out she was adopted, and has stated that it wasn’t a big deal in her young mind. She never felt like anything was missing from her life.

She met her birth mother years ago and feels at peace with the decisions she made at the beginning of Sarah’s life. It’s likely that the artist wouldn’t be who she is today without having been raised by her adoptive parents. She is grateful that she was adopted — a story you don’t always hear from adoptees.

6 Kristin Chenoweth, Born July 24, 1968

Adopted by Junie and Jerry Chenoweth when she was just five days old, Kristin was named Kristi Dawn and she would grow up in a small town in Oklahoma embracing music and a love of the arts. Kristin has always been pretty vocal about her upbringing with adoptive parents — a term that many adoptees turn their nose up at.

Kristin is among a slew of adoptees who have simply never felt the need to reunite with their birth parents. She isn’t missing anything. She has had two wonderful parents and they chose her from the start. So, she chooses them, too.

She bears no ill feelings toward her birth mother, and thanks her for giving her up for adoption and loving her enough to give her the life she has today. While some babies come into the world through one mother, they may be carried throughout the rest of it by another. Sometimes, it truly does take a village.

5 Dave Thomas, Born July 2, 1932

Anyone who owns a television or dines out knows who Dave Thomas is. The founder of the famous Wendy’s fast food restaurant had some pretty humble roots. He was placed for adoption by his birth mother in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She was unmarried.

Adopted by Rex and Auleva Thomas when he was merely six-weeks old, Dave’s adoptive mother would go on to pass away just five years later. After her passing, Rex traveled the country frequently looking for work. Little Dave would stay back in Michigan with his grandmother, Minnie Sinclair.

Dave’s work toward his empire would start at the early age of 12-years old when he got his first job working at Regas Restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee. He went on to pursue other jobs in the food industry and even dropped out of high school to do so. Though he went on to build a legacy in the food world, Dave still earned his GED in 1993. Dave never met his birth parents.

4 David Berkowitz – “The Son Of Sam”, Born June 1, 1953

Born Richard David Falco in Brooklyn, New York, David’s mother, Elizabeth Broder was rumored to have had an affair while married to Joseph Klineman. Getting pregnant during that time, it was said that Klineman threatened to leave her if she kept the child and tried to raise it as though it was his. So, she chose adoption for her son.

Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz adopted young David during his infancy. Despite his parent’s good efforts, neighbors and friends of the family remarked in later years that David had an obsession with playing with fire and was spoiled and trouble as a youth.

When he was 14, his adoptive mother died of breast cancer. Later, his adoptive father remarried and it is said David wasn’t fond of his new wife. He found his birth mother in 1974 and she divulged details to him of his birth. David went on to be further alarmed by the fact that there were no strong father figures in his life, and perhaps felt abandoned by them.

This event in his life is thought to be the catalyst that started him on the spree of murders he would engage in during the 1970s.

3 Ingrid Bergman, Born August 29, 1915

Famed actress Ingrid Bergman was never formally adopted. Rather, the young girl — who was named after the Princess Ingrid of Sweden — went to live with her aunt when she was 13-years old after her father died. Her mother had passed when she was only 2 years of age.

Ingrid must’ve been a strong girl to endure what would come next when her aunt died just six months after she moved in with her. She was then forced to move again and live with her Aunt Hulda and Uncle Otto and their five children.

Despite Bergman’s tragic upbringing and the loss of her parents at a young age, she went on to garner a scholarship to the Royal Dramatic School Theatre, a prestigious school in her time. Still, she would leave school just one year later after getting her first role in a major film titled MunkBrogreven.

2 Debbie Harry, Born July 1, 1945

Born in Miami, Florida, Deborah was adopted by Catherine and Richard Harry when she was just three months old. The couple would take her back to Hawthorne, New Jersey and raise her as their own. They told the future songstress of her adoption when she was only four-years old.

In the 1980s, Debbie reached out to her birth mother. It’s unclear if she hoped for any kind of relationship with her, but the interest wasn’t returned. Debbie has remarked that this was okay with her. She had found great success in life at that point, and didn’t appear to be emotionally scarred by the experience.

Roughly 135,000 children are adopted in the United States alone each year. The rate of adoption appears to be increasing in America, especially among foster children. While only 9.5 percent of foster kids were adopted in 2003, 12.6 percent were in 2011 and 13.1 percent in 2012. Adoption is a miraculous gift that hopeful parents can give to so many children who are in need of a quality home and an abundance of love.

1 John Lennon

John Lennon is another famous singer who was adopted by family member when his birth mother felt that she could no longer provide care for him after his birth father went AWOL on a naval ship. John was nine years old at the time. His aunt stepped in to take care of him and raised him until he went off to college.

John Lennon even has a younger half sister who was born to his birth mother and a soldier. His half sister was adopted by  another family in Norway.

Growing up Lennon would get in trouble at school and even with the law. It wasn't until he formed his first band in 1955 that he began to get his life on the track that would lead him to superstardom. Two years later he would meet Paul McCartney and George Harrison and they would form the beginnings of the Beatles.

Sources: POV