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Jodie Sweetin Opens up About Her Adoptive Family | “Interfamily Adoption Happens a Lot”
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Jodie Sweetin Opens up About Her Adoptive Family | “Interfamily Adoption Happens a Lot”

Sweetin, now 40, recently revealed her adoptive parents’ connection to her biological family.

Jodie Sweetin attends Nickelodeon's 2019 Kids' Choice Awards at Galen Center on March 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Jodie Sweetin recently opened up about her adoptive family and the connection they share with her birth parents.

The Full House star's adoptive father, Sam, first spotted her at the home of his ex-wife, Rose, with whom he shares three adult children. “(Rose) was my biological father’s aunt,” the 40-year-old said during the Conversations With Olivia Jade podcast, as per TODAY. “(Sam) would go over there to check on her, check on the house, make sure things were working right, whatever. He was still around that family, and he saw me there.”

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Sweetin's biological parents weren’t able to care for her at the time. During the time that Sweetin was living at her great-aunt's home, her soon-to-be adoptive father would check in on her. Sam and his second wife, Janice, were hoping to start a family of their own. “My parents really wanted to have kids and they were having some struggles, so it wound up that they were able to adopt me sort of through that chain,” Sweetin continued. “It’s an interesting story, and actually, I think it’s a story that happens a lot. People don’t really talk about it, because I think there’s this weird sense of shame if there’s an interfamily adoption. But I think that interfamily adoption happens a lot, so I like sharing my story now, because I think that more people are like, ‘Oh my gosh, me, too.' It doesn’t feel as isolating and weird and outside of the norm.”

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In 2021, the actress confessed that she has “never connected” with her birth mother and father and she's "totally OK" with not knowing them. "As far as I know, they’re not alive, and I’m totally OK with that,” she said on the Allison Interviews podcast with Allison Kugel. “There’s this point in your life where you finally kind of realize what happened. That it no longer becomes something about you, that it’s like, ‘Oh, I wasn’t wanted,’” she said. “It was like, ‘No, they actually made the healthiest decision for me by allowing me to be adopted by another family that could provide better.’” Although it was hard growing up and she looked at her adoption “in a very self-torturous way" even thinking at one point, "‘Oh, something was wrong with me.’ I think we all kind of take that on a little bit. But I’ve completely changed how I view myself.” As she grew older, she began to look at the situation from a different perspective and is hoping to show other adoptees what family truly means. 

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References:

https://www.today.com/parents/jodie-sweetin-being-adopted-mental-health-during-pandemic-t239970

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https://www.today.com/parents/parents/jodie-sweetin-explains-adoptive-parents-connection-biological-family-rcna24984

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-conversations-with-olivia-87991908/episode/conversations-with-jodie-sweetin-95707358/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swX2gkDr8Rs&ab_channel=AllisonInterviews

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Jon Kopaloff