Kristin Chenoweth
A clip from an interview on The Rosie Show.
“I am a show tunes kind of gal. My Pandora stations reflect it, and my car radio is permanently set to Sirius XM’s On Broadway. Season tickets to two different theaters are in my desk drawer. As such a fan of musical’s, I’ve liked Kristin Chenoweth ever since she was in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Once I found out she was adopted? LOVE her!
In the last few years, she’s been very open with the press about her status as an adoptee, and has even used it to further adoption causes like working to get available children adopted from foster care. So I thought it might be fun to share some of the things she has said about adoption.”
By Angie R., UFA Board
From an interview with YahooMusic:
You’re adopted. How does that shape you?
Mainly that I feel a lot of love from my mom and dad who adopted me. Maybe I would have had a very different life had I not been adopted but my parents have really helped shape who I am. I do things sometimes they don’t agree with, but I’m their kid and they love me. I know they feel like they won the lottery and I feel like I won the lottery. They got me and I got a home. The right home.
From an interview in Prevention Magazine:
You’re very open about being adopted. How has it affected your life?
I have a constant feeling of gratefulness 0 gratefulness to the family that adopted me and the upbringing I got. Sometimes I want to kill my parents, and I’m sure they want to kill me; we’re a family in every sense of the word. But if I were ever to meet anyone in my biological family, I would say, “Thank you, because you gave me the best possible life I could have had. And the best parents.”
When you were in college, you were elected Miss Oklahoma City University, and one day you were approached by a woman who might actually have been your biological mother.
Yes, I was doing an event, and a woman came up to me. I did notice that she was my height and blonde, but I didn’t think much about it. She said, “I’ve been following your career, and I am so proud of you. I just want you to know that someone is always thinking of you.” I thought she was just being sweet. She walked away, and I looked at Kathy, my pageant director, and she was ashen. She said, “That woman looked like you! You looked like…her.” But by then the woman was gone.
What kept you from trying to find her?
I was nineteen; I was young. There was a line of people waiting to get their picture taken with me, and I was thinking about that…plus, I’ve been so fulfilled with my family. But there are some things I wonder about, like, who’s battled depression? Who had Meniere’s disease?
Do you think being adopted makes you particularly open to adopting a child yourself someday?
You know it! I’m a traditional girl. I’d love to have a husband to have a child with. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way, and that’s okay. I’m not sure where my twenties and thirties went. …If I get to the point in the next couple of years where I haven’t met that person and I feel the urge, I will absolutely adopt. What could be greater?
image by Disney ABC Television Group
From People Magazine:
“I was shuffled around and got into the right home. I was lucky.” Her parents, both chemical engineers were an interesting match for Kristin growing up. She says, “They couldn’t understand why I never understood math or science.” Yet on the other hand, “They should never sing aloud,” she jokes. “I tell them to keep that inner voice.”
Kristin designed a shoe in honor of November being National Adoption Month, that will be sold on shoedazzle.com with proceeds going to benefit foster kids. “I’m not a scientist,” she laughs, “but I’m really good at shoes.”
From Celebrity Baby Scoop:
I was one week old when I was adopted,” she tells us. “Lucky me! But actually, I was supposed to go to another family. They found out they were in fact pregnant right before my birth. So I believe God placed me with exactly the family I was supposed to be with. Miracle!”
The Tony Award-winner also talks about teaming up with the Dave Thomas Foundation. “I partnered with Wendy’s because I love what they do for kids who need to be adopted here in the U.S.,” she says. “The Dave Thomas Foundation has given so much to children in need of homes and foster care. This is my second year [taking part in the Father’s Day Frosty Weekend — where .50 cents from every Frosty sold went to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption].”
Does she have any advice for people who might be interested in the adoption process?
If you know it’s right, just go for it,” she encourages. “All a child needs is unconditional love. That’s it. Someone to say, ‘Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite. I love you.’”
From a report on FoxNews.com:
While many entertainment types adopt children from overseas (we’re talking about you Brangelina), Chenoweth, an adoptee herself, is dedicated to reminding everyone that there is an overwhelming number of American children that are also in need desperate need of a loving home.
“The average age of a child waiting for adoption is nine, and this is in America. While I appreciate so many people going abroad and adopting…there are so many children here that just need the unconditional love and support of a parent,” Chenoweth, who recently partnered with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to help raise awareness on the issue, told Pop Tarts. “Here in America, we still have a lot of work to do. It’s alright to go abroad, but in this country, we have people that need to be fed, people that need to be clothed, and people that need to be loved. And that means a lot.”
In Hollywood circles at least, it seems most adoptive parents adopt children from birth or a very young age – but Chenoweth says this doesn’t always have to be the case.
“There’s a misconception that you must adopt a child at birth, but there are kids that are 17 that just need some love and self-esteem,” she said.
Speaking of which, the stage and screen starlet, fresh from her hosting duties during last Sunday’s Tony awards, took time out on Monday to bring a little extra love into the lives of several foster kids at her Broadway theater in Manhattan, where she also launched the Foundation’s annual marquee program – Father’s Day Frosty Weekend.
“I was in shock when I heard that there are 123,000 kids that are in the foster care system in our country. I really want to drive the point home that even if you don’t think that you have tons of money, and all these other ‘things’ to give a child, all a child really needs is love, care and a mentor. Someone to listen to them and to be there,” Chenoweth said. “You don’t have to be a wealthy person – you can be wealthy in your spirit. These kids just want to be loved, and that’s what really touches my heart.”
Chenoweth speaks from experience, and credits two special people for her ongoing success.
“It always goes back to my parents who adopted me, who gave me unconditional love and self-esteem,” Chenoweth said. “I don’t think I’d be where I am without them.”