Growing up in Hollywood, actress Katherine Heigl has been in the public eye since she was a teen, but most people don’t know much about her family life or personal life outside of it. Most recently, in an interview with In Style magazine, the actress revealed that she decided to adopt her daughter Naleigh not long after her birth, explaining that she never saw her daughter right after adopting her because she was in L.A., and she was in Utah. Here are ten reasons why Katherine Heigl didn’t see her daughter right after adopting her at first.
1) She wanted to give her daughter time to adjust
She adopted her daughter, Naleigh, from Haiti. She wanted to give her daughter time to adjust before seeing her, and says she never saw her daughter until three weeks after adopting her. I didn’t see her for the first time until the day I left with my sister to go pick up our baby.
She tells In Touch Weekly that she’s happy with how things are going now and feels like a great mom.
I have moments where I think, ‘Wow! I am so lucky.’
2) It was important for her to build a bond with her daughter
Katherine Heigl had her daughter, Naleigh, on October 26th, but she didn’t see the baby for about two weeks. She said in an interview with The View, I did not get to hold her for two weeks. I did not get to feed her or take care of her. She continued on to say she never saw her daughter right after adopting her, but it was important for Katherine and husband Josh Kelley to spend time getting to know their new child. It was difficult because there were so many people coming through our house every day and we wanted some time alone with our daughter, she says.
3) There was a lot of paperwork involved
It’s a long process to get through, and there is a lot of paperwork involved. But you know, it’s really easy to get bogged down with the details and lose sight of the big picture–Katherine Heigl had some great advice for us on that front in her blog post. I had no idea how much paper work it would take to adopt a baby, she said. The paperwork was overwhelming! And since we all can’t be Katherine Heigl, we’re going to need some help with the details. Katherine Heigl wrote about 10 reasons why she never saw her daughter Naleigh right after adopting her. One of them is too many hands. In other words, Katherine couldn’t do everything by herself:
Too many hands, as my sister-in-law used to say. She has three kids now, so she knows what I’m talking about. There are so many little tasks and responsibilities that arise daily once your child arrives home from the hospital–feeding, diapering, burping, singing lullabies the list goes on and on.
4) She needed to learn how to be a parent
Katherine Heigl has a lot to say about being a mom, including how she felt after the difficult adoption of her daughter, Naleigh. In an interview with the Oprah show, Katherine revealed that she didn’t see her daughter right after adopting her because she needed time to learn how to be a parent before meeting her. You know I never saw my daughter right away, Katherine says in the interview when asked if she was able to hold or cuddle with her new baby. I think it would have been really hard on me emotionally.
5) The adoption process was emotionally draining
Katherine Heigl was so proud to adopt daughter Naleigh, but she admits the adoption process was emotionally draining. I am still bleeding from my heart, Katherine told People. It’s an intense, emotional experience. It’s not like you’re just having a baby.
The adoption process takes months, and once it is finished, people go through a period of adjustment where they’re adjusting to their new life as parents. For Katherine, she says it took her six weeks before she saw her daughter again – and even then she didn’t see her until after they had left the hospital. I never saw her right away, Katherine says in the interview with People magazine.
6) It was a big adjustment for her family
Katherine Heigl admitted that she struggled with postpartum depression after the birth of her first daughter, and it made her understand that sometimes moms need a little help. I never saw my daughter right after we adopted her, Katherine said in an interview with People. I just couldn’t hold her right away.
The mom has been open about the guilt she felt for not being able to give birth to her daughter, but they overcame their difficulties together.
It was a big adjustment for me and my family, Katherine shared with the publication. We all had a lot of adjusting to do. But I think because we all knew why it happened, we were more compassionate.
7) She was dealing with post-adoption depression
Katherine Heigl, star of such films as Knocked Up and The Ugly Truth, and mother to one-year-old daughter Naleigh, recently revealed that she has post-adoption depression. In an interview with People Magazine, she said her daughter is a wonderful little girl, but that I’ve never seen her. Katherine’s admission was shocking to many fans who followed her adoption journey and thought they saw everything. However, this is a common feeling among parents who go through the process. There are many reasons why Katherine might not have seen her daughter at first.
Post-adoption depression is a form of depression that occurs after one has adopted a child. It often manifests itself about six months after the adoption takes place and gradually fades away over time.
