Rosario Dawson is getting candid about parenting and why, for her, adoption "wasn't even a question."
The Mandalorian actress, 41, is mom to a 17-year-old daughter whom she welcomed into her family via adoption when the girl was 11. In a new cover story for Health's March issue, Dawson opens up about becoming a mom and building a connection with her child.
"I'm grateful for her development, our maturation and our connection," she says. "… To have a young person move in with you and to have to really consciously work through triggers and that kind of stuff is a really different thing than being pregnant and having your baby grow up in front of you — to be able to see how we're getting closer and closer. We are a family, and it's beautiful."
"With my daughter, I didn't go to an adoption center or anything like that," adds Dawson. "My family knew her biological mom, and when we found out she was in foster care, we looked for her. It wasn't even a question; it was clearly meant to be — she's my kid."
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Stars Who Grew Their Families by Adoption
Dawson also explains her relationship with therapy, saying that she consistently attends sessions with her child. "My daughter has had therapy most of her life through foster care and stuff. I've done weekly therapy with her starting at the age of 11," she says. "I have had it in my life, but it hasn't been specific to me and my personal needs."
Adoption was always something the actress seriously considered, even from a young age.
"Around the age of 5, I found out my dad wasn't my biological father," recalls Dawson. "That was super shocking to me. I'm Daddy's little girl. I don't know my biological father. Apparently, he died in 2011, but I didn't have a relationship with him. At 5, it was a lot to take in, and I recall thinking, 'What if my parents hadn't met, and I was older, and no one wanted to marry my mom because she had an older kid?' "
"I remember vividly back then saying that when I was older I was going to adopt an older child," she says. "… It's wild to think I manifested this when I was younger."
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