Melissa Gilbert participated in an interview on April 18, 2011, in which she discussed her adoption. Her given name was revealed to be Babygirl Darlington since her dad was David Darlington and her mom was Kathy Wood.
The engaged couple gave up the star shortly after birth. Within 48 hours, the future actress found a permanent home and received the name Melissa Gilbert from her adoptive parents.
Barbara Crane and Paul Gilbert adopted the star when she was just 24 hours old. She was born on May 8, 1964, at the French Hospital in Los Angeles, which no longer exists.
Paul was a stand-up comedian, actor, and dancer who began his career as an aerialist in a Buenos Aires-based family circus. Barbara was a young actress in her twenties, but her career was cut short.
Melissa was always aware that she was adopted. The actress said in her memoir, “Prairie Tale: A Memoir,” that she was taught as a youngster that her mother, Kathy, was a prima ballerina and her dad, David, was a Rhodes Scholar.
Her adopted parents said that her biological parents were unwilling to give up their occupations to raise her. Melissa’s dad was stated to be in the midst of a project, and the time of the delivery was wrong, so they had to give up their daughter.
Melissa discovered the truth about her parents when she was old enough. Kathy was a dancer, but hardly a prima ballerina, while her father raced stock cars and painted signs.
Kathy and David were both married to other individuals and had three children. They went away together, became pregnant, and moved in with their kids until they realised they couldn’t afford the seventh.
Following the death of Melissa’s stepfather, the “Little House on the Prairie” actress was astounded to learn more about her adoption. Mitzi, Melissa’s godmother, looked into the day Melissa’s adoptive parents picked her up from the hospital.
She admitted that the Gilberts’ reappearance with their new kid surprised her. This astonished the actress, who, along with other family members, turned to gaze at Barbara, who admitted:
“I mean, we had no plans to adopt a child.”
Barbara said that she and her husband were not seeking for a child until they received a phone call informing them that Melissa would be available. When the celebrity’s adoptive mother phoned her husband, who was on the road, he urged her to “‘go get it.'”
Melissa was surprised to hear herself referred to as a “it,” but Barbara clarified that she hadn’t yet been born. Barbara later said that they had been attempting to conceive when they were notified about her.
According to Barbara, the Gilberts had not contemplated adoption until they got the call while undergoing reproductive treatments. Melissa revealed in a July 2020 interview how secretive her adoptive family was.
During an interview the actress disclosed that her dad died of a stroke when she was 11 years old. However, at the age of 45, she found that he had committed suicide.
Everyone in the star’s life, including herself, was kept in the dark. She informed the journalist that she would never conceal such a serious secret from her kids.
Melissa believed that such secrets were detrimental to families. The actress is currently married to her third husband, Timothy Busfield, and she is a mother and grandma who grew up watching “Little House on the Prairie.”
Melissa’s first child from her previous marriage to actor Bo Brinkman was son Dakota Paul Brinkman. Michael Garrett Boxleitner, the star’s second kid, was born when she married her second husband, Bruce Boxleitner.
