Katherine Heigl isn't just a hero on the small screen, saving lives, she's a hero in real life too! As
Hollyscoop had reported earlier this week, Katherine and her hubby Josh Kelley are adopting a 10 month-old baby from Korea, but we've just learned that she's adopting a baby with special needs.
The entire adoption process seemed to be expedited and now we know why. The adoption agency is thrilled that Katherine wants to be a mother to Naleigh and help her with her special needs.
Katherine said: “She is a special needs baby and because of that it all moved so much faster. They wanted to get her to us as quickly as possible. Timing has played a role in us telling people. I wanted to tell everybody so you don’t think I stole a Korean baby!
“She was actually born the day before me in November which I thought was really serendipitous and just kind of like a sign. I realized just recently that I basically forfeited my birthday for the rest of my life.”
Katherine opened up to
Ellen Degeneres talking about the 40-page questionnaire she and Josh had to fill out before they were granted the adoption.
She said, “We’ll be adopting real, real soon. About a year ago is when we said, 'OK, let's start the process,' and the process is intense. These are very valid questions. You think about some of these things. You talk about some of these things but you don’t really get into the mix of it until you’re looking at these questions going, ‘Oh my God we better answer these right otherwise they won’t give us the baby.’
“It's different but it isn't, do you know what I mean? It's just as intense I'm sure to have a baby biologically because you're going through the whole physical sort of thing of it.”
Katherine's sister Meg was adopted from Korea, so her new baby Naleigh is going to have an extra special place in her heart, and family.
She revealed: “It's been a big part of my life and my family. My sister is Korean and my parents adopted her back in the 70s and so I just always knew that this is something I wanted to do. I just wanted to make sure that I was marrying a guy who understands that this was going to have to happen. Not everybody is down with that, not everybody thinks that.”
What an amazing thing to do! We really commend Katherine and Josh for adopting someone with special needs, that can't be easy. She's giving this baby another chance at life, and it really is heartwarming!
