Comedian and actress Roseanne Barr is sharing a personal story from her past that has remained in relative obscurity throughout the years. Barr gave birth at age 17 to a baby girl, and placed her for adoption. Now decades later, they were reunited, a experience she describes as emotional, empowering, and transformational.
Barr recently discussed this experience on a new episode of the Dumb Blonde podcast and in her upcoming documentary Roseanne Is America. In both, Barr shares openly about being a teenager becoming a mother in the early 1970s, feeling pressured to give up her child, and the emotional journey they took back to one another.
An Unfortunate Choice at 17
When Roseanne Barr became pregnant in 1971, she was a teenager, only 17 years old. She was living in Denver at the time, and stated that her family was pressuring her, mainly from her grandmother, to place the baby for adoption. Worried about being thought of as a young, unwed mother in their neighborhood, her family encouraged her to find help from a local agency.
After her daughter, Brandi, was born, she spent about a week with her. Then, Roseanne worked with Jewish Family and Children Services in Denver to find Brandi an adoptive family. Barr described it as difficult and painful, but she believed placing her daughter for adoption would be the best course of action for her daughter's future.
She also noted that, even back then, she hoped they would reunite. "I told her, 'when you turn 18, I'll be there, because I'm going to be famous by then," Barr recalled in a podcast.
Years later that would turn out to be the case.
How a Tabloid Tip Sparked Their Reunion
Brandi knew from an early age that she was adopted and, as many teens do, began searching for her birth mother. She had one small detail provided to her—her mother was a “famous Jewish Hollywood actress”—and, based on that, Brandi initially believed her birth mother may be Goldie Hawn.
The truth was revealed in a very unlikely way. According to Barr, it was comedian Tom Arnold, who was her husband at the time, who tipped off The National Enquirer. The tabloid managed to find Brandi and then shared the news that Roseanne Barr was actually her birth mother.
Both Brandi and Barr were shocked at first. If I was Barr, I would have said, “I didn’t even know she was Jewish until I saw some pictures of her and I could see some resemblance.” What happened next was an emotional family reunion in which both women reported it felt natural and long overdue.
Barr called their first meeting extremely emotional. "It felt like magnets were attracted to each other," she said. The two women hugged, cried, and instantly began building a relationship that continues today. Today, Brandi is 53 years old, married, and a mother. Brandi and Barr have remained close.
Though Barr stated she was upset at first because of how the story came out (through a tabloid piece), she quickly started to see the story in a different light: “I’m actually thankful for it now,” she said. “If they hadn’t done that story, I might never have seen her again.”
Their story will continue to garner interest thanks to Barr’s documentary and more recent media appearances. Barr also posted a photo on social media of herself and Brandi wearing matching shirts, calling her “my oldest baby,” a public display of their connection after years apart.
Their reunion gives a rare insight into the emotional reality behind adoption stories—the pain, hope, and in this case, a story of healing.
Source(Image / Thumbnail): parade.com
