Katie Mulgrew Discusses Reconnecting with the Daughter She Gave Up for Adoption

Kate Mulgrew talks about the daughter she gave up for adoption and the process of finding her again while in discussion with Chicago Tribune columnist Heidi Stevens at Printers Row live event, April 16, 2015.
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[@TheFiown]

Kate could read the telephone directory and I would listen, she is captivating !

[@nunyabusiness5934]

Omg, I couldn't agree more. It's like the Borg, you've read my mind and our thoughts are one! Lol.

[@Paa375]

You got that right amazing story teller love listening to her

[@reggaefan2700]

Is she in character or what? This is some of best acting/speaking, I've ever seen.

[@theo-jamesmoulton2000]

There are some people, some actors... when they speak it's like gravity. I would absolutely love to see Kate Mulgrew and James Spader at the same point in time and space. It'd be like being on the event horizon of a black hole.

[@Deeniesweden]

🤣😁👍🏻

[@jimjimmyjames59]

Jesus, this woman! I admire her so much.

[@reggaefan2700]

Is she in character or what? This is some of best acting/speaking, I've ever seen.

[@ericssmith2014]

@@reggaefan2700 In a sense, she’s in character as someone who can tell this story.

[@Daystar311]

Wow. Being adopted myself, I relate to Kate's story on a cellular level. I found my birth mother and it was a deeply emotional and personal experience that most people would never understand, so I have a deep empathy for Kate's emotional journey. My mother was fractured by relinquishing me, but something was healed for both of us when I found her. Anyway, as for Kate, I absolutely loved her as Janeway! Voyager was my most favorite Star Trek spin-off show. I wish this lady much happiness!

[@Paa375]

She is amazing woman loved her as janeway definitely my favourite Star Trek as well🙋🏻‍♀️

[@reggaefan2700]

Is she in character or what? This is some of best acting/speaking, I've ever seen.

[@Dancestar1981]

@@reggaefan2700 that’s the way she is naturally

[@phily8093]

I think it's so unfair on the adoptive parents when this kind of biological connection is made. They chose to raise you as their own when another gave you up. They loved and cared and devoted their lives to you. And in many cases I've seen, this happens, the adoptive parents become second class, all is forgiven, and they are left hurting, but remain supportive.

[@MagnusVonBenz]

I really enjoy listening and watching Kate Mulgrew even when she's telling such a sad story of her life.

[@xoxoxoxo5224]

Fabulous woman. Incredible actress, and this story was so sad and harrowing. Absolutely captivating.

[@deb1here]

I'm SO glad that Ms. Mulgrew found her daughter, Danielle! All those many years must've been so heartbreaking for her.

[@LloydWaldo]

What an amazing woman, to be willing to face this pain later in life and accept what she did.

[@1965Chava]

you are an amazing woman Kate. So happy you found your daughter and she found you.

[@tomcrowther3955]

Oh god, the way she describes it. So visceral. Brings tears to my eyes.

[@AzEagletarian]

I'm reading Kate's memoir now. She's a fantastic writer. I'm captivated.

[@ryanhunter130]

I love Kate Mulgrew...I’ve loved her since I was a boy. Heartbreaking story, glad she was able to reconnect with her daughter in later life.

[@Inhalin1514]

I'm very glad she got to make peace with that part of her life :)

[@reggaefan2700]

Is she in character or what? This is some of best acting/speaking, I've ever seen.

[@dunamis333]

Kate Mulgrew is such a beautiful soul!

[@ingerarts7361]

If one does get the opportunity to reconnect with a child or a birth parent, it absolutely IS beautiful and mysterious. ❤ *Lead with gratitude & love!* 🙏 💕

[@jamiethomas18]

Oh my life. What an incredibly hard thing to do, my admiration for Kate just doubled. Kate is amazing, she was such an amazing Captain as Janeway.

[@PandaGialla93]

I am watching Ryan's Hope right now. I feel like I am intruding Kate's privacy watching the episodes where she is really pregnant. She was 21 alone in New York and pregnant. The plot of the perfect tragic movie. But Kate is an amazing person with so much strength that she survived through it

[@amyevans3825]

When Janeway held the Borg baby-girl in Star Trek Voyager (I think the ep was called Unity) there was such a look in her eyes, that I wondered if there had been some situation. I was amazed when I read Born with Teeth to have the whole story straight from the horses mouth. What an incredible woman!

[@Paa375]

How was the books?

[@dee_mcgee11]

My sister got pregnant in her mid teens and my mom was there for her and still is 18 years later. I have three amazing nieces and two awesome nephews. I feel for Kate and all the years she missed with her baby.

[@amandazeller787]

Thank You! ! ! Adpotion is never easy. Thank you for sharing this.

[@AnnieWarbux]

After tolerating so much from others and after doing so much in caring for her siblings I am sad thinking that her parents refused to return the same respect. At least for the infancy stage. I am so happy for Kate and her daughter to have been reunited. Her daughter resembles her so much at times. What a happy ending to a rough chapter and such a wonderful beginning to so many more to come.🍀

[@saquist]

"I'm sharing you this part of the book ...cause that's the funny part" Extraordinary people come from extraordinary circumstances....

[@reggaefan2700]

Is she in character or what? This is some of best acting/speaking, I've ever seen.

[@amandavanderark3698]

Oh lady.. I feel this deeply.!

[@burtonryan50]

She's a wonderful actress and a sweet lady. Had the fortune to meet her at a convention in Chicago. 🙂

[@deepspeed7862]

Kate Mulgrew is a legend

[@slamjam7676]

What a strong person Perfect casting for voy

[@mousetreehouse6833]

Heartbreaking.

[@carmenarbelo833]

God bless her what a personality Katie in Voyager and life I love happy endings!💖

[@rockanne]

Closed adoption is not specific the Catholic Church but the common manner of legal adoption in the past. It was thought the best way for the child and adoptive parents. Open adoption is a fairly new idea.

[@goofygrandlouis6296]

Maybe the catholic sister waited for the girl to be 18.

[@svenable567]

I know it hurts Kate but honestly, we all have past issues we wish were hidden forever but they all come back. Kate is a wonderful actress. Thanks for being so honest. We still love Kate!

[@MissLizaMay]

we all have past issues? Seriously? Read her book, she was lied to by nuns and the Catholic church for 20 years. That's not normal. It was very unfair what she had to go through, and a very unique story. Don't dismiss it with "we all have issues."

[@trewestbrook7404]

Oh my God. I believe I heard her tell of another tragic part of her youth involving her reproductive health during the time she was on Ryan’s Hope. I watched the airing of her 1976-77 pregnancy/birth and assumed it was storyline dedicated. Even as a man, I could never imagine carrying a child 9 months, having millions watch it in an immortalized recording knowing I may never be able to know my child. The tragIc lives of the characters Ms. Mulgrew has played over the years seem to pale in comparison to her own story. Reproduction is so sensitive and poetic at times.

[@CeltycSparrow]

I am glad you found your daughter again, hun.

[@iCANT_BELIEVE_YOU_SAID_THAT]

I demand Katie Mulgrew to read me a bedtime story. Wow does she have a soothing voice.

[@amandamills4133]

can you imagine being 20 years old and finding out that you are Kate Mulgrew's long lost daughter. Actually I don't think I knew anything about her at all when I was 20. I hadn't seen Voyager that point and I've never even heard her name but imagine if you had and then she pops up in your life and says I'm your long lost mother.

[@skatergirl6764]

Evidently Danielle is the point farthest from a fangirl one could be. I've watched interviews with her and she did not relish her birth mother's fame one bit

[@patriciareyes7561]

@@skatergirl6764 I agree with you, she was never interested in Kate's fame or anything, and when you hear her speak you can tell. I actually recently read Danielle's book and I so recommend it, it's called Healing Tree. She does talk about her adoption but the book is more than that, its about her healing process and different techniques she has used and learn over the years as a Body and Brain Yoga practitioner and teacher. I think she just kind of wanted to initially know the basic of her biological makeup and not necessarily wanted to be in Kate's life as she felt guilty and torn as it related to her family, her mom, dad and sister, but it seems that Kate wanted to be in her life and kept at it until she just could not say no. I am happy for both of them and I wish them both peace, love and joy. Both wonderful and strong women.

[@Paa375]

Late to the game but she is a amazing woman really admire her

[@TheRiverJordan3613]

I’m even more impressed with Kate doing the right thing and the more difficult thing. To bring the baby to term and give it up for adoption and not killing it.

[@HR-rl4ke]

You must KZbin Mary Ryan giving birth Ryan's hope .her acting partner in delivery room is the amazing Helen Gallagher these scenes are the most intimate birth scenes ever on screen and knowing days later she gave her own up for adoption .I've recently watched all of Ryan's hope on KZbin I fell in love with Kate Mulgrew the most talented beautiful actress ever watching her on Ryan's hope I can't help but think how incredible she would have been if she were born to act in the golden age of Hollywood she just has that look and voice!!! Class act!!!

[@mikebowen1246]

So very strong ❤

[@patyguevara1037]

I admire this woman. You are bless for no kill your baby; you share your baby

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

I'm neither a woman, nor do I have any inclination of EVER becoming a parent. That ship has thankfully sailed, I'm just not the person for parenthood. But Kate telling the story of having to do the monologue right after giving up her own child, that drove me to tears.

[@esquire8283]

This woman is such a beast.

[@beakytwitch7905]

It would be nice to hear something in favour and towards healing of the couple who adopted... They made a commitment and invested much in raising this adopted daughter. Are they to be slighted ?

[@youtubecommenter37]

Sorry but it’s not about them. This isn’t their story.

[@firefly2k7uk]

Talk about holding a room

[@brookehanley3659]

When she immediately regretted it and went and said she wanted the child back they should have respected that. She was the birth mother. Should have given the baby back to her.

[@Testacabeza]

It's the Catholic Church.

[@sethtubman647]

Maybe they should have but once made, the forms finalized and filed, the decision is irrevocable. Absolutely diamond-hard irrevocable. That's why decisions like that need to be made very deliberately and very sure.

[@MissLizaMay]

@@sethtubman647 read the book. She was told she'd get an option to change her mind after the baby was born. They lied and put the baby in a different part of the hospital. She didn't get what she was promised.

[@Jane_Friday]

Depends. The law is like that in my country. My step brother and his wife welcomed a baby girl into their hearts and home. Then the biological mother wanted the baby back after 4 month or so. It took a toll on my step brother. And although they adopted another baby who graduated high school last summer, it left marks on him and surely on his beloved second baby girl too.

[@Sentinel4261]

I love. That you can see you're self!

[@chriscasa22]

Christ on a bike I know Janeway was awesome, because Kate Mulgrew is the real deal

[@gyongyipearl4723]

I am adopted so I don't know my birth parents. Maybe it's for better. Luckily I had the World best Dad who loved me very much, so there's no reason to complain, however maybe I would be happy if I knew my mother to explain what happened. I am not mad at her. I am happy for Kate. 💖She was the best captain! 💖👌 But this is my opinion. 😉

[@SusanScrapPassion]

Clearly, giving her daughter up was a monumental trauma for her. Had she never found her, it would have haunted her throughout her life. Perception is everything, and if she is happy with their relationship now, then that is all that matters.

[@TheIrishAmish]

Her speaking cadence is 100% Shatner.

[@lindsays1395]

where can i see all of this??

[@lordbyron3603]

Kate looks great for her age ... one year older than me.

[@debonaire_nerd]

This explains how she decided to damn an entire crew of a ship in the Delta Quadrant.

[@brofenix]

Oh man, woah. I am glad they seem to have a good relationship now, but I wonder why woman such as Katie did not choose to abort the baby if they knew they couldn't take care of it if it was born, rather than having the baby.

[@CoachHeyward]

Oh my gentle Jesus that’s the greatest punchline I’ve ever heard

[@rogerfausto6256]

She looks like the Heat Miser from that cartoon Christmas story in the 70's

[@Parmen0901]

Did you ever admit your professional jealousy for Jeri Ryan? No? We love you. Be real. To her… and your fans. They and I would embrace you. Come together.

[@nikkipaul100]

She wasn't jealous of Jeri Ryan. Jeri Ryan has been playing victim for years instead of owning she came onto a show late as obvious T&A after another female was fired for not being hot enough for the braindead male fans. And to top it she was sleeping with the boss, who gave her lots of story & screentime & made sure she got everything, she wanted. Many actors & their characters suffered due to Jeri & her characters on the show. But sure jeri was just an innocent girl who had no control.

[@robertsagest9552]

That is a fucked up story in the most respectful way possible. Also she kills a woman named Danielle in a future TV show. She has spine for days.

[@JustJismSongs]

Would have been interesting to have heard Danielle's side of this story. I'm sensing some parts of Kate's recounting were highly exaggerated, e.g. the mail box thing, sending that shit at the same time (how would both of them know it had happened at exactly the same moment?), and also their closeness. Danielle's blog is much more down to earth. She mentions how she loves Kate but that their relationship is sometimes a little difficult because they're both so very different, and then again they're not, and coming to terms with the whole having been abandoned by her birth mother thing must have been a difficult one to overcome as well. The way she talks about it sounds like a much more realistic description of a mother/daughter relationship. Don't get me wrong, though, Kate is an amazing actress and I loved her in VOY as much as I love her in OITNB, I'm not trying to discredit her, and honestly, that woman can tell one hell of a story, she had me on the edge of my seat, but there's just something about the facts that don't quite add up here.

[@PandaGialla93]

I read Danielle's blog. And like all stories, if you ask two people to tell you them they'll tell it to you in a different way. For sure they looked one for each other in the same lapse of time. They were lucky to find one each other. And they still have a relationship. Kate maybe talks a bit more in a sugary way about it (which mother doesn't) and Danielle in a more realistic way. Giving up a baby I think is hard on both parts. And in Kate and Danielle's case, they were lucky. Danielle was adopted by a loving family and in the end, they let her find her real mother. And I think Kate lived with the guilt of having given up her baby for years.

[@jackmehoff4165]

KMulgrew is an actor who got lucky. She was not the first choice for the Voyager captain's chair.

[@youtubecommenter37]

Did you see the pilot with their “first choice” as captain janeway? She was horrible! Which was why they called Kate Mulgrew back and cast her. Luck had nothing to do with it. It had everything to do with the “first choice” acting like cardboard in the original recording of the pilot

[@MissLizaMay]

says someone who clearly hasn't seen Genvieve Bujold's "performance" as Janeway. Look it up and you'll see that "luck" had nothing to do with Kate being cast. It was pure talent and a will of steel. And the fact that Bujold was dreadfully miscast.

[@ps3301]

That is why they don't bring her back. Time hasn't been kind to her

[@brizzle3903]

This is a stupid comment everyone ages and if they were to bring her back she’d obviously be Admiral Janeway which would be more suitable than Captain

[@krisnyc9134]

She wrote a book about her life? Hopefully she doesn't get on a boat in Hawaii like in the movie throw momma from the train

[@Clamski]

KInda killed me when she described handing over her daughter, and said "Take it" Instead of "Take her" I can't judge, and I wasn't there. Brutal circumstance. I would prefer to think that her recounting of what she said at that moment was just a slip of the tongue.

[@deswynishmael7236]

She was describing the baby on the show not the baby she gave up

[@branko1b]

please, please, please the dearest captain, come back to the "ST world" - you can always be a "pompous admiral" or something like, say, a meditation guru on some remote planet who everybody want to consult...

[@oldtiedyeman]

Step up and give the baby away ?!? How about step up and MARRY THE FATHER ! When a baby has two parents there are two families there for support.

[@rorydedman55]

She gave up the baby so she could continue her acting career. Kate had the means to raise her child. She had a job and could have very easily hired a nanny to care for the baby.. Who cares what Kate's mother thought. Kate is very selfish.

[@ProfessorArt1]

@@rorydedman55 No she was young, that's the point, that's her regret.

[@Dancestar1981]

That wasn’t an option his family wouldn’t allow it. The father was Jewish and his family had other plans for him. The adoption was a forced choice

[@TvKarenB]

You have to remember that this woman is an actress and I do wonder if some of them lose touch with reality and have trouble defining fact from fantasy!

[@IceAintNice]

You're killing me.

[@steliosstamatialis8169]

Jealousy is a child's pastime. Stop it.

[@woroGaming]

There's a difference between being an actor and being an entertainer. Kate is both.

[@lordbyron3603]

Karen Brent Hey, I lost touch with reality here and there and I’m not an actor. It has nothing to do with being an actor. Most, if not all, everyone that I’ve ever known have lost touched with reality once or twice.

[@marcelparker6755]

I, honest to God, hope you're not getting at what I think you're getting at...

[@angelazolezzi]

omg for me it's like so weird to hear her original accent instead of russian hahah lol too much OITNB

[@forkkio1]

Wait so she isn’t Russian??!!

[@brizzle3903]

Nope

[@TheGeneralAnesthesia]

She gave her baby up and she blamed everyone else. “I realized what had happened to me” like outside forces conspired against her. The nun that was working to provide her daughter with a family that would love her as their own. Her Mom grieving for her lost children and having a daughter so selfish to have a career and fame that she wanted to pawn her child off and the only way she was willing to keep her was to have her mom take her? Ugh. The family that loved the daughter have been cast aside for this second rate human being. Forgiveness is important and glad the daughter had closure at least. But Kate has made it about herself. She’s turned it into a way to make money and be the center of attention again. It’s very sad. The need to have this to make herself feel better and get praised for confronting a nun who “did this to her” was just a way to deflect blame from the real culprit, herself.

[@CrustyWhiteBread]

I am so glad she gave her baby up for adoption. I am sure she was strongly encouraged to -abort- murder the child. Respect.

[@MissLizaMay]

you can be pro-choice and still choose to have the baby. Stop being so ignorant. Every situation is different and it's a personal choice. Kate legally had the choice, and she chose to have it. Stop trying to take away that choice, you judgmental hypocrite.

[@Buckaroo_Baldwin]

You really are a special kind of stupid, like the kind they write songs about.

[@Deezter16]

hmm hmm

[@justicefreeman6930]

First I’ll say, I love her acting. The rest will me thoughts on what this interview was about. I do not know her beliefs on religion or politics. It’s more brave to have a child and put the BABY up for adoption than to terminate (what did she call it? That’s right) the creature. A hero would give birth to this innocence life. Work hard and sacrifice to provide for her. Learn to make better decisions on who she sleeps with and birth control. Do you know how many scared girls have babies, keep them? Stand up to their parents and loser boyfriends (baby daddy)? Sounded like she said her mom made the choice. No! You chose to sleep around. Like most do. You chose not to use birth control, like a responsible adult. You chose to sleep with a man that either you, him or both didn’t want a life of love and responsibility with. Then like a child wanted your poor mom to deal with it. Choose your words better than your partners. Glad you had her. Now just don’t say I did what my mommy said. This was all you. A young girl scared with no one to turn to. A young lady who didn’t listed to her parents and made bad choices from start to finish. Do not blame your mom or the church. They found her a good home it sounds like. Who knows how long you waited to find her? Who know weather you moved on and just had fun forgetting about her? Not me. You know. Glad your together. Peace.

[@scottmantooth8785]

there are no chance meetings, only divine appointments

[@lanael7278]

Kate is magnificent. The interviewer is annoying.

[@deejay3243]

Pro Life is a gift of Grace.

[@MissLizaMay]

no, it's being arrogant and judgmental. Being pro-choice means you have the grace to understand that every situation is different. People are very often pro-choice and choose to have the baby. Stop being so judgmental to your fellow man.

[@deejay3243]

MissLizaMay my statement is not judgmental. It is fact. Do you think human life is all based on supply and demand? It really quite pathetic when people throw around the idea of being “judgmental” as a weapon to help a weak argument. If her daughter was aborted she would be dead, never adding her gifts to all. FACT. The Lord Jesus forgives. FACT.

[@robingagan6288]

He mother made the mistake ...the baby would have helped her

[@Deeniesweden]

She doesn’t have the best relationship with Ian and making fun about that, yuck. Kate, seriously?

[@Mister__Jey]

If a man had given his daughter up for adoption but has a great acting career ahead of him, he would have been convicted. But of course it just talks about how badly the woman went and systematically saw everything at all and there is no blame here at all, do we already know everything from feminism

[@MissLizaMay]

you are completely wrong. Exactly what would a man be convicted of? Wanting to give his child a better life? It wasn't about her acting career, it was about the fact that she was single and couldn't provide. HOW DARE YOU?

[@rorydedman55]

@@MissLizaMay Kate certainly had the means to provide for her baby. She was a well paid actress and could afford a nanny for her baby. It's obvious she didn't want the baby because it would interfere with her acting career. I don't believe she tried to get her baby back! She's making that up to sell her book.

[@vasilefilip6477]

O DOAMNA FRUMOASA,E NEFUTUTA?

[@CBrolley]

Sounds like she had a selfish mother.