Being adopted or learning of one's adoption can affect people in a myriad of ways. Full House’s Jodie Sweetin knows that firsthand. In recent years, the actress has been open about her life as an adoptee as well as her family history. The Hallmark star is now discussing the unexpected connection between her adoptive and biological families.
The actress wasn’t afraid to speak on her family life while chatting with her co-star Lori Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade. During her appearance on the Conversations podcast, Jodie Sweetin got honest about her feelings of rejection and the sense of mystery surrounding her biological family even, something she felt even amid her rise as a popular child star. She also admitted that becoming a mom herself helped her gain a better sense of compassion and understanding for her biological parents.
As the television personality explained, she stopped questioning her family history and set out to learn about her lineage. Even now, she's still seeking out information, storing any that she can. But what she did not expect to learn was that her adoptive father is tied to her biological family:
So, my [adopted] dad, Sam, his ex-wife who he had three adult kids with when they adopted me, she was my biological father's aunt. So, I was staying at Rose's house, my dad's ex-wife, and he would go over there to check on her, check on the house, make sure things were working right, whatever. He was still around that family, and saw me there. And, as fate would have it, Sam and his second wife, Janice, were hoping to start a family of their own. My parents really wanted to have kids and they were having some struggles, so it wound up that they were able to adopt me sort of through that chain.
I honestly don't know how I'd process a development if I were in her shoes. But as Jodi Sweetin explained, her presence at her dad’s ex-wife’s house almost felt fated given all of the circumstances at the time. Though it may not seem like the most typical of familial ties, in the same interview, the Fuller House actress said that she doesn't view her family's story as too out of the ordinary:
It’s an interesting story, and actually, I think it’s a story that happens a lot. People don’t really talk about it, because I think there’s this weird sense of shame if there’s an interfamily adoption. But I think that interfamily adoption happens a lot, so I like sharing my story now, because I think that more people are like, ‘Oh my gosh, me, too.' And it doesn’t feel as isolating and weird and outside of the norm.
It was nice to hear Jodie Sweetin spotlight interfamily adoptions as, quite frankly, they don't seem to get discussed all that often. It's interesting to hear the actress be so reflective and, based on what she's been through so far this year, one can see why she would be. She lost her TV dad Bob Saget in January and like her Full House family, remembered him sweet ways while using his brand of humor to cope with the grief. The Hallmark star has also experienced some true joy during this time, as she got engaged to her fiancé Mescal Wasilewski, which drew well wishes from many of her friends and colleagues. Sweetin has a lot of happiness to look forward to, but it's great that she's not forgetting her roots as time moves on.
Right now, Jodie Sweetin is primed to be a Hallmark Christmas queen, as she has several movies ready to go (following her TV big sister Candace Cameron Bure's move to GAC Family). In the meantime, you can stream Full House by getting an HBO Max subscription and its sequel Fuller House with a Netflix subscription.
