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Adoption has come a long way over the years. Today, most people feel very positively about adoption. In fact, 94 percent of individuals believe that birth parents are incredibly fortunate to have made an adoption plan. 90 percent of adopted children have positive feelings about their adoption, and over 80 percent have a warm and close relationship with their adoptive parents. Adoption is positive for everyone involved and yet, there are still misconceptions.
If you were keeping up with the 2024 Paris Olympics, you know Simone Biles. The 27-year-old, United States’ gymnast earned three more gold medals, and a silver medal, making her the most decorated gymnast in history. Simone Biles is an inspiration for young women, athletes, and families worldwide. Not only for her talents as a gymnast but also for her strength and perseverance off-stage.
Simone Biles: Early Life
Simone’s Birth and Biological Family
Simone Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio on March 14, 1997. She is the third of four children born to her biological mother, Shanon Biles and biological father, Kelvin Clemons. Both of her parents struggled with addiction. As Simone shared on Dancing With the Stars in 2017, her birth mother struggled to care for her children. Due to these circumstances, Simone and her siblings were placed in and out of foster care from a young age.
Circumstances Leading to Foster Care
Shanon Biles, who has been sober since 2007, explained in an interview with the Daily Mail that it was “hard to give up my kids, but I had to do what I had to. I wasn’t able to care for them.” As those in the adoption community understand, adoption is anything but “giving up.” It is a loving, selfless act to give a child the best life possible.
Simone Biles has shared that while living with her birth mother and before being placed in foster care, she often did not have enough food to eat.
“Growing up, my biological mom was suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and she was in and out of jail,” Simone shared. “I never had mom to run to. I do remember always being hungry and afraid.”
Initial Foster Care Experience
Biles has candidly spoken about her years in foster care as a young child with her three siblings – Adria, Tevin, and Ashley. She once tagged the post “foster child” in her Instagram Stories, along with the text: “a conversation I had about a [topic] that is near & dear to my heart,” from a CNN interview.
In the interview, Biles explained that, at the age of three, she was placed in foster care. There, she was connected to Friends of the Children, a nonprofit offering mentorship for children in challenging circumstances.
“I actually was a foster kid, so I know some of those hardships that those kids go through,” Biles shared. “When my siblings and I entered foster care, it was because our biological mom was struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. I was three years old.”
Simone Biles’ Adoption Journey
Simone Biles has been open about her experiences in foster care and the impact her adoptive parents have had on her life, crediting them for providing stability and support, which helped her achieve her goals in gymnastics.
Adoption by the Biles Family
When she was six years old, Simone Biles and her little sister were adopted out of foster care by their maternal grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles. Together, the girls moved to Texas to live with Ron and Nellie, who quickly became more than grandparents. Their siblings Tevin and Ashley were adopted and raised by Ronald’s sister in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ron and Nellie are Simone’s legal adoptive parents, her support system, and proudly, her Mom and Dad. They raised her to be the woman she is today and encouraged her every step of the way.
Shortly after the adoption, Biles discovered her love of gymnastics. The discovery came during a school trip. She credits her parents for always being supportive of her dream.
“Gymnastics is very expensive, and we’re so blessed that our parents could afford for us to do it,” she told Women’s Health Magazine.
Her adoptive parents own the gym where Biles trains – appropriately named World Champions Centre. The 56,000-square-foot space is in Biles’ hometown of Spring, Texas.
Biles’ parents have been proudly cheering her on at every competition since she began her gymnastics career – except for Tokyo, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impact of Adoption on Simone Biles
Simone Biles has shared in many interviews that she would not be who she is today were it not for her adoptive parents.
In a recent interview with the TODAY show, Simone was asked, “You were someone who dreamt of being a gymnast, and you’re here today,” Hoda Kotb said to Biles. “So if you had to answer this question: ‘If not for blank, I would not be here today.’”
“If not for my parents and adoption, I wouldn’t be here today,” Biles responded without hesitation.
Simone Biles, like most adopted children, is happy with where she is today. She has a supportive family who encourages her through the best and the worst of days. She has her parents and her birth parents, and to her, that is completely normal. There is no doubt or confusion in her mind.
The Olympic gymnast has an open adoption plan. Simone talks to her birth mother on holidays and birthdays and has met her a few times in person with Nellie by her side. While she sometimes wonders about the “what-ifs,” Simone chooses to focus her energy on one family. She explained to TIME magazine, “I have everything I need, so there are no blanks left unfilled. I never felt I had questions or needed answers or had a part of me that was missing.”
Ron Biles, Simone’s father, lends some advice to all current and prospective adoptive parents out there. In a USA Today article, he remarks that “[Adoption] is a wonderful thing. It gives you the opportunity to enrich the life of yourself and the child, and enrich everyone who is involved in your life.”
He continues, “Raising kids is just a wonderful thing. You get to see them grow and be a part of that, and I can’t think of anything more satisfying. It is an important issue and I could only say good things about it.”
Simone Biles Today
Simone Biles is widely considered the Greatest of All Time (the G.O.A.T.) of gymnastics. Her recent experience at the Olympics in Paris brought her grand total of gold medals to 11. Her parents have been there for every step of the incredible journey – including the hardships.
Olympic Success
Simone Biles’ parents have been present for every single competition except the Olympic Games of 2021, held in Tokyo, due to the COVID-19 restrictions. It was during these games that Simone was forced to exit the competition, after experiencing the gymnastics phenomenon known as the “twisties.” This causes a gymnast to lose sense of their body moving through the air and increases the risk of injury.
“After her vaulting, she called me and then mentioned that she couldn’t do it anymore,” Nellie Biles told TODAY. “My words to Simone were, ‘Don’t do it. Don’t feel like you need to push yourself, because that’s the last thing I need is to see you injure yourself on television and I’m not going to be there.'”
Beyond Tokyo, Simone has experienced a vast amount of Olympic success. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Simone Biles made her Olympic debut and became a breakout star. Her performance was historic, and she dominated the competition, earning a total of five medals, including four gold and one bronze.
In the most recent Olympics, Paris 2024, Simone left the games with three gold medals and one silver, bringing her total gold medal count to seven. An astounding achievement for the 27-year-old, who became the oldest woman to compete for American gymnastics on that stage since the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Marriage to Jonathan Owens
Simone Biles got engaged to Jonathan Owens in 2022, after two years of dating. The Olympic gold medalist has admitted that she was nervous to introduce Jonathan to her parents.
“Mama Biles, I can’t tell you how scared I was to take him over there,” she recalled in her Facebook Watch series. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. You know, my parents are a little harsh.’ I was like, ‘So don’t worry if they don’t like you.’”
In the end, Nellie and Ronald welcomed Jonathan as a part of the family, and Nellie even helped Simone plan her wedding – held in Cabo San Lucas in May of 2023.
“My mom gives me advice on everything… I look to both her and my dad as role models in many ways, but also as examples of what a strong base of love and support looks like. She’s someone I can bounce things off of and has been letting me do my thing as I figure out what works for us,” Simone said. “We are so excited to celebrate with our close circle, and she’s a big part of that.”
“My parents are my parents and that’s it.”
Simone has been known to set the record straight when anyone questions “Can grandparents be parents?” or “Are adoptive parents as real as biological parents?”
“My parents are my parents and that’s it,” the decorated Olympian declares.
That is it. Adoptive families, no matter their make-up, are real and true families in every aspect – legally, financially, emotionally. What makes a parent a “real parent” is not biology. It is nurturing. It is the day-to-day care, the unconditional love, devotion and commitment that makes a parent a parent.
The Biles family has been raising the bar when it comes to how society perceives adoption. So should we.
If you would like to speak to Adoptions With Love about adoptive parenting, the adoption process, or receive adoption advice, please call toll-free at 1-800-722-7731 or contact us here.
