Katherine Heigl Always Knew She Wanted to Adopt

Katherine Heigl became a household name when Grey’s Anatomy took over the airwaves in 2005, but after she was blacklisted in Hollywood for being "difficult" to work with, the 27 Dresses star became more infamous than famous. 

Rather than try to fight it, Katherine decided to step back from the limelight and focus on herself and growing her family.

Given all the scrutiny she got in the early years of her career, Katherine decided to remain pretty private when it came to her family life. But in recent years, she’s started to break her silence around her husband, two daughters, and son. 

So, who are Katherine Heigl's kids? Keep reading.

Katherine met singer-songwriter Josh Kelley met in 2005 and the couple has been inseparable ever since. Katherine and Josh decided to make it official in Park City, Utah in 2007, coincidently around the time when Katherine was also filming 27 Dresses, a movie centered around weddings.

Two years later, Katherine and Josh adopted their first daughter, Naleigh, from South Korea. Katherine’s sister, Meg, was also adopted from Korea, and growing up, Katherine always planned on adopting as well. 

“I wanted my own family to resemble the one I came from, so I always knew I wanted to adopt from Korea,” she told Scholastic.

Adopting a child was so important to her that Katherine talked to Josh about her plans even before the couple got engaged. “Not everybody feels the way I do about adoption,” she told InStyle. Luckily, Josh did.

Soon after Naleigh’s arrival, the couple started looking into adopting a second child, also from Korea. Unfortunately, by that time, the laws to adopt from Korea had become a lot stricter, so Katherine and Josh looked to adopt within the U.S.

The wait was short and in April 2012, the couple had adopted newborn Adelaide, their second daughter. 

Katherine describes Adelaide as “a fierce and bossy lover of animals, her sister, her cousin and her little brother.” Katherine also credits Adelaide for bringing “an abundance of joy, laughter, love, and purpose” to her life.

After two successful adoptions, Katherine and Josh were surprised to discover that they were pregnant in 2016. 

Katherine told People that although becoming pregnant was never a part of the plan, “I’m so grateful that I did. I think that if it hadn’t been a surprise, I’m not sure I would have done it.”

Although her pregnancy with baby Joshua was quite easy, two weeks before her due date Katherine and Josh found out that Joshua Jr. was breech and had to schedule a last-minute cesarean section in Dec. 2016.

Thankfully, the birth took place without any further complications. Afterward, Katherine opened up about the difference between giving birth to her biological son compared to the experience of meeting her daughters.

“I actually prefer the adoption way because I wasn’t subject to hormones,” she said of the emotional highs and lows she experienced right after giving birth. 

But she said the hormonal swings were the only difference in her raising her children. “The moment you hold your child, you’re wholly in love,” she said. “And you’ll do anything to protect them and shelter them.”