Adopted Simone Biles Opens on Unusual Family Situation: “My Biological Mom Is Also My Dad’s Daughter”

Did you know that Simone Biles doesn’t like cats because of her biological mother? Simone and her siblings ended up in foster care when she was just 3 years old because her biological mother suffered from alcohol and drug abuse. Simone’s biological mother was unable to take care of her children as she went to jail often and left the Biles siblings in hunger and fear.

Luckily, nobody regrouped or split Simone Biles from her siblings and sent them to different homes, so they didn’t have to spend much time apart. But whenever her grandfather, Ronald Biles visited the foster home, little Biles was always excited, “That was the person I always wanted to see.” By the time she was 6 years old, Ronald Biles and his wife Nellie Cayetano Biles adopted Simone Biles and her younger sister Adria and moved to Texas. Their father’s sister adopted the other two siblings, Ashley and Tevin, who remained in Ohio.

Reflecting on this emotional journey during an interview on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the seven-time Olympic medalist opened up to host Alexandra Cooper and shared her adoption journey. Recounting the moment when her grandparents revealed their decision to adopt her and her sister Adria, Biles, now 27, shared her initial confusion when they asked if they should be called “mom” and “dad.”

Biles expressed, “I was like, why is everyone freaking?… Well, you know my parents, those are my grandparents. My uncles whom I call my brother now, were my uncles. I just remember we all sat on the floor, the practice stopped because everybody needed to know the story. The coaches were intrigued. Everybody, they were like, You’re adopted?…

But the fact that her biological mom Shanon is also her adoptive parents’ child has been difficult for her to wrap her head around. Biles added, “….crazy explaining to people because I’m like, my biological mom is also my dad’s daughter and I call him dad. So it’s just like everybody’s hella confused… It’s a whole family tree that you’re like, Don’t make me explain it. My parents are my parents. I got chosen. Feeling blessed…”

Simone Biles would have been Simone Biles, but not the world’s most celebrated gymnast or ‘the G.O.A.T’. Being adopted by her grandparents proved to be a stroke of luck for the 27-year-old; without it, she might have been homeless or not even completed her education. “I have no idea where I would be without being adopted…” She said to Cooper while crediting her adoptive parents for a smooth journey.