Katherine Heigl Breaks Down in Tears Recalling Early Days With Daughter Naleigh

Katherine Heigl looked back on the concern she was “always afraid” of during the beginning of her journey as mother to daughter Naleigh, who she and husband Josh Kelley adopted in 2009.

By Kelly Gilmore Nov 28, 2022 10:23 PMTags
Watch: Katherine Heigl Reflects on Past Controversial Remarks

Katherine Heigl is trading Firefly Lane for a trip down memory lane.

The Grey's Anatomy alum recently looked back on the start of her motherhood journey after adopting daughter Naleigh with husband Josh Kelley back in 2009. And as she explained it, becoming a mom while busy at work created an unexpected fear.

"Naleigh came to us at nine months and three days later, I got on a plane and went to work in Atlanta," Katherine recalled during a Nov. 28 appearance on The View. "I never saw that baby. I was at work with three triplets who were playing my god daughter and I spent more time with them then I did with my new daughter and she bonded with my husband. So, I was always afraid that I had missed that opportunity to really bond with her and that she didn't love me."

Looking back on her early days as a parent, Katherine explained her initial outlook—something that arguably differed from her reality.

photos
Katherine Heigl's Best Roles

"At the time, becoming a new mother, I was just like, ‘I got it. I got it. I can handle this,'" she said. "You know, they've told us we can have it all. We can have careers and have families and it's all gonna be great. It's all gonna work out."
 
But while Katherine feared Naleigh, now 14, wouldn't take to her as much as she did to Josh, the little one proved that simply wasn't the case during a 2012 appearance on The View. At the time, Naleigh ran up from the audience to give her mother a hug while filming. A decade later, Katherine watched that footage back during her Nov. 28 appearance and broke into tears.

Instagram

In addition to Naleigh, who was born in South Korea, Katherine and Josh also share 10-year-old daughter Adalaide, who they adopted in 2012, and 5-year-old son Joshua, who Katherine gave birth to in 2017.

And while Katherine navigated the journey of being a working mom, she has also worked to navigate her daughters' curiosity when it comes to their biological parents.

"They do have more questions as they get older," Katherine explained in a 2021 interview with Parents."We have said to them, ‘This is your story. We don't have any information about your biological fathers, but we do have a bit about your biological mothers. If you guys want to talk more about them, you can have as much or as little information as you want.'"

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App