Many people think that the rich and famous always have luxurious lives, however, there is a fact that a lot of celebrities had difficult childhood filled with abuse and neglect. For example, the famous musician, Seal spent the night on a subway to avoid his abusive father or Hollywood sweetheart Marilyn Monroe went through a challenging upbringing that wasn't enjoyable at all. For various reasons, these celebrities became state wards and were placed into foster care for most of their childhood.
When entering the foster care system certainly, children have to face a lot of unique challenges but that doesn’t mean they will stop doing great things. In some cases, fostering and adoption really gave these future stars the love and stability they needed. Additionally, the adversity they overcame pushed them to hone their skills and fight for a better life.
Below are 10 famous people who came from the foster care system. They've gone on to accomplish wonderful things and have become iconic in their field.
#1 Seal
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Seal was sent to live with a foster family in Essex as soon as he was born. He spent his first four years of life in this family before returning to the care of his biological parents – although his father was very strict and often physically abusive. After spending his early years in foster care, Seal's life greatly improved. Now, he becomes a superstar who sold more than 30 million records worldwide and win three Brit Awards.
#2 Marilyn Monroe
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Marilyn Monroe is undoubtedly one of the most well-known foster children. She lived with her mother, a single mom who was fighting the stigma associated with having a kid outside of marriage. Her life was a struggle: her mother was declared legally insane and Marilyn was sent into an orphanage for two years. She spent the following four years living with a family acquaintance. Marilyn didn't know her father and always yearned to see him.
#3 John Lennon
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John Lennon’s early life was filled with uncertainty: was born during the Second World War, a time of terrifying air raids, terrifying bombs, and blackouts. John's mother, Julia, was divorced when his father, who was away at sea and didn’t reappear for 18 months after he was born. When his mother began seeing a new person, he was ejected from the nursery for bad behavior. Later, John started moving in with his Aunt Mimi and her husband as a foster care solution.
#4 Eddie Murphy
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The divorce of his parents at age 3 caused Eddie Murphy's life to change dramatically, he grew up in foster care. After his father died five years later, and his mother's financial difficulties caused her to spend a lot of time in the hospital. Though it was a hard time, he now claims that time spent in foster care helped shape his sense of humor and ability to make a joke out of any situation.
#5 Pierce Brosnan
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Pierce Brosnan was raised by his grandparents when he was four years old when his mother moved away to pursue her nursing education. Because his grandparents passed away when he was six, he lived with different relatives until he was taken to a boarding house to live until he was ten.
#6 Coco Chanel
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Gabrielle Bonheur aka Coco Chanel, lost her mother when she was 12 years old, and she and her sister were subsequently taken to live in an institution. The Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Mary, which was established to care for the needy and outcasts, ran this foster care institution. She was able to move past the misery of her early years and into a bright future, going on to become one of the most well-known fashion icons of the 20th century.
#7 Steve Jobs
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When his mother became pregnant, Steve's biological parents were still dating. Because his father was an immigrant Syrian Muslim, her parents would not initially allow her to marry an Arab. His mother gave birth to him in San Francisco and he was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. In other words, Steve's early childhood involved foster care and adoption before he was established with his foster parents, who he openly referred to as “his parents”.
#8 Neil Morrisey
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The popular British actor has never been shy to talk about his experiences growing up in foster care. He said that it was never fully explained why he (aged 10) and his brother (aged 12) had been taken from their parents and their two older brothers placed in two different children's homes. However, in his BBC documentary, "Neil Morrissey – Care Home Kid", he discovered it was because of the dirty, neglectful home they had grown up in, which led to their parents frequently leaving them alone.
#9 Lorraine Pascale
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Former model Lorraine Pascale, who later rose to fame as a TV chef, spent a sizable portion of her childhood in foster care. Lorraine created a BBC program, "Fostering and Me", which explores her experiences of growing up in foster care. Although her life's abrupt transition from foster care to adoption was an unsettling start to her life, her success and the sale of more than a million recipe books show that her difficult upbringing had no impact on her ambition.
#10 Cher
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Cher's mother divorced her husband while she was carrying Cher, but she continued to live a modest life by taking on infrequent singing engagements and tiny acting roles, thus Cher lived the majority of her childhood in poverty. When Cher was two years old, her mother became ill and Cher was placed in foster care. She stayed there for a while before returning to live with her mother with assistance from her grandma.