Rodney Atkins – Finds his Birth Mother

In 2008, Rodney Atkins became the spokesman for the National Council for Adoption.  Rodney is himself adopted and shared with the Associated Press the fact that he felt the need to track down the woman who gave birth to him.  The reunion reportedly occurred in Nashville.

The reunion was a cathartic moment for the Take a Back Road singer.

“It hit me at that moment, walking in that room, getting to know her,” Rodney told the AP. “She’s a wonderful, beautiful lady. I realized that the reason I needed to do that did not have anything to do with my parents. I’m glad I did that really, really, really for her. She’s been carrying that around, wondering what happened, and I could tell it was such a relief.”

It was a typical story.  Rodney’s birth mother was young;  just 19 when she became pregnant and was in no position to raise a child.  She chose adoption rather than ending the pregnancy.  She hid the pregnancy from her family and ended up giving him up.

“I just wanted to tell her thank you, because she had some other alternatives to end that situation,” he said.

“I might not be here. So you don’t want to take it for granted. . . . She kept saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ I kept saying, ‘Thank you.’”

Rodney’s adoptive parents have since become close to his birth mother and even shared many photos of him growing up and eventually becoming a country star.  It helped her to better know the child she gave up decades ago.

Once the contact was made, Rodney’s birth mother found out the he really admired Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey.  So, for his birthday two years ago, she gave Rodney an autographed jersey, Garvey’s baseball card and a baseball.

Rodney said,

“She told me, ’You have to understand, Rodney, to me this is your first birthday.’”

Our sincere thanks to our colleagues at Country Weekly and the Associated Press for help with this story.

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