Why Jamie Lee Curtis Chose Adoption
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Jamie Lee Curtis is a Hollywood icon, having starred in everything from horror classics (Halloween) to action movies (True Lies) and sleepover staples (Freaky Friday). While establishing her storied career, however, she also found time to be a mom, raising two daughters with husband Christopher Guest.
The couple became parents in 1986 when they adopted Annie shortly after her birth. In 1994, Curtis told People that becoming a mother was “the most profound, non-describable event of my life.” Two years later, the Curtis-Guest crew became a family of four with the arrival of Ruby, who was also adopted.
While fans may know Curtis best as a scream queen, she’s also a prolific children’s book author—a career that kicked off after she became a mom. Her first book, When I Was Little: A Four-Year Old's Memoir of Her Youth, was directly inspired by an interaction with Annie, and she later wrote a book for adopted children asking questions about their births. In total, she’s written 12 picture books (plus a graphic novel, Mother Nature, that hit shelves in August 2023).
Related: Jamie Lee Curtis Announces New Children's Book, 'One More Sleep'
Curtis—who is herself the daughter of Hollywood royalty Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis—has also remained a passionate advocate for ethical adoption. More recently, she’s become an outspoken supporter of the LGBTQ+ community after Ruby came out as trans in 2020. “I’m not proselytizing, and I’m not trying to force-feed something to people. I’m simply saying, ‘This is our family's experience,’” Curtis told People in 2021. “I am here to support Ruby. That is my job. Just as it is to care and love and support her older sister, Annie, in her journeys. I'm a grateful student. I'm learning so much from Ruby. The conversation is ongoing. But I want to know: How can I do this better?”
Keep reading for a complete guide to Curtis’ family.
How many kids does Jamie Lee Curtis have?
Jamie Lee Curtis has two children: Annie, born in 1986, and Ruby, born in 1996. Her eldest daughter, Annie, inadvertently kicked off Curtis’ career as a children’s book author when she was a toddler.
“She marched into my room and stomped her feet and put her hands on her hips and looked at me and went, ‘When I was little I wore a diaper, but now I use a big-girl potty,’” Curtis recalled in a 2019 New Yorker interview. “I thought, Oh, she was talking about the good old days. She was talking about her past. All of a sudden, I understood she had a past.” The moment sparked the idea for 1993’s When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth.
Who is the father of Jamie Lee Curtis’ kids?
Jamie Lee Curtis shares Annie and Ruby with husband Christopher Guest, whom she wed in 1984. Curtis first laid eyes on Guest while she was flipping through an issue of Rolling Stone with her friend Debra Hill, who co-wrote and produced Halloween. “I said to Debra, ‘Oh, I’m going to marry that guy,’” Curtis told The New Yorker. They went on their first date days after meeting at a restaurant and got engaged two months later. Three months after that, they walked down the aisle.
Who are Jamie Lee Curtis’ kids?
Annie Guest
Annie is the eldest child of Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest. They adopted her in December 1986 just after she was born. “We were awakened in the middle of the night with the phone call announcing that she was born,” Curtis told People in 1991. Annie graduated from Kenyon College in 2009 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance and later began working as a dance instructor in Los Angeles. In 2019, she wed Jason Wolf in a ceremony held at her parents’ home.
Ruby Guest
Curtis and Guest adopted Ruby in 1996 shortly after her birth. “I would have said no to any more children because Annie was 9,” Curtis told Pact’s Point of View in 1997. “But a set of circumstances occurred, all of which were celestial. It was serendipitous and involved a friend of mine who died [in 1996]. Five or six events came together, all of which resulted in our family growing within four days.”
In 2020, Ruby came out to her parents as transgender. Curtis shared the news with the world in July 2021, telling AARP The Magazine that she and Guest “watched in wonder and pride as our son became our daughter Ruby.” In May 2022, Curtis officiated Ruby’s wedding to partner Kynthia. Like sister Annie, Ruby had her wedding in her parents’ backyard.
Related: Will Jamie Lee Curtis Be Back for 'The Bear' Season 3?
How old are Jamie Lee Curtis’ kids?
Curtis’ eldest daughter, Annie, celebrated her 36th birthday in December 2022. Ruby, meanwhile, turned 27 in March 2023.
When did Jamie Lee Curtis adopt her kids?
Jamie Lee Curtis adopted her eldest daughter in December 1986, two years after marrying Christopher Guest. The couple became parents of two in 1996 when they adopted daughter Ruby.
Why did Jamie Lee Curtis choose adoption?
Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband, Christopher Guest, decided to pursue adoption after struggling with infertility issues. “Adoption was the only way for us to have a family,” she told Pact’s Point of View. “It becomes the viable option for you. If you want to be a family, that's how you’re going to be it.”
Curtis has since become an advocate for ethical adoption, and in 1996, she wrote a children’s book about the love adopted children bring to their families. Curtis said the book, titled Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, "was written to let children who joined their families through adoption know that their own birth stories were exciting, too.”
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