Last week, Rosie O’Donnell’s 17-year-old daughter, Chelsea Belle, was thankfully found unharmed after she disappeared for a week. She had left home with her therapy dog, and Rosie feared for the worst, especially since Chelsea stopped taking her meds. Rosie thought Chelsea could have hooked up with her biological mother, Deanna Micoley, who has a history of drug abuse. Instead, Chelsea was found with an alleged 27-year-old drug dealer, Steven Sheerer, whom she met on Tinder. He was taken into custody on a child endangerment charge.
Fortunately, Chelsea wasn’t hurt when she was found. The details were confusing, for authorities said they traced a burner phone cell signal. Now TMZ reports that Sheerer will raise the “Tinder defense.” That is to say, he’ll assert that because Chelsea was on Tinder, he believed she was an adult: “His lawyers say Sheerer relied on the app separating users into age groups.” Sheerer’s lawyer also claims Chelsea came to him, and she wasn’t harmed. Also, Sheerer is in treatment and isn’t violating probation.
Whatever happens with Sheerer, this story just grew more sad. Chelsea has left home again to go live with her bio mom:
Rosie O’Donnell’s daughter Chelsea — who went missing on August 11 only to return a week later — has left home again … this time to reunite with her birth mother, Deanna, who gave up Chelsea for adoption in 1997.
According to our sources, Deanna drove down from Wisconsin to pick Chelsea up on Monday afternoon … which happened to be her 18th birthday.
We’re told Chelsea and Deanna drove back to Wisconsin, where Chelsea will stay for the time being.
We’re told Rosie advised Chelsea NOT to go with Deanna, but she went anyway. We’re also told Rosie has cut off Chelsea financially and has refused to turn over her birth certificate and social security card.
[From TMZ]
How awful for Rosie. I’m glad she cut Chelsea’s money supply off though, for perhaps that will give her an incentive to return. On Wednesday, Rosie a really sad poem on her website. This story sounds so complicated, and I only hope for the best outcome.
Photos courtesy of Rosie.com & WENN
I have heard Rosie is a nightmare but I do not know her so I cannot judge. All I can hope for is the best outcome for Chelsea.
She is going to be in for a rude awakening when she finds herself in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin farrr away from the only family she knows and instead living with a bio mother, a husband, and four other siblings she’s never met before. smh
I feel badly for Rosie and any adopted parent who’s raised a child, then gets discarded for the bio parent. I’m worried for Chelsea on many different levels. I worry for her mental health, I’m worried that her bio mom think thinking she’ll be a meal ticket. I don’t think Rosie is perfect at all. I think she can come across as loud, brash and a bully. However, Rosie is going through a divorce,a child custody fight, her dad just passed away and now this. So she does have my sympathy.
Yes to all of this – the kid is going to be hours away from anything resembling a city and resources to address whatever her mental issues are. Also, a quick search of court records shows that bio mom recently instituted a support action against her ex-husband. Rosie is spot-on in terms of cutting off the money spigot.
I think some are being too hard on Rosie. She may be keeping the kid’s SS card, etc., because she expects her to come back when she wises up.
As a former Big Sister I saw how kids have a strong pull to their bio mom, and esp. when she’s neglectful. They like being treated better but they’re hooked on trying to get Bio Mom to love them.
They go back and forth sometimes, but she’s 18 so there may not be the option of going back to Rosie and her rules and money.
@aemish @cannibell I’m from Wisconsin and just want to note that it’s not just one big field…there are actual cities there! Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, Steven’s Point, etc are all moderately sized towns and her bio Mom could live in one of those towns. Yes, there’s tons of country, farmland, and fields but living in Wisconsin does not automatically mean you live in the middle of nowhere without access to mental health care. If she is living in the country then it might actually be good for her to have a taste of the relaxed way of life and have some self reflection without the distractions of a big city.
She will have little money if Rosie has cut her off and so she should have. Life may not be the wonderful fantasy she’s had of living with her bio mom. I think Rosie is a good mom. Her other kids are healthy and happy.
@prettylights – I live in Milwaukee, so I know exactly what you’re saying. And I was curious to see where Chelsea’s mom lived, so I looked it up. It’s a town of 1,600 on Lake Superior near the UP. That’s going to be quite the adjustment….
I don’t think it will have anything to do with the town she is living in. She will miss her mom and her siblings who she has a history with. As Dorothy said: “There’s no place like home”……btw Wisconsin is one of the most beautiful states there are…and she is outside of Green Bay, not a little town.
Rosie can’t keep Chelsea’s birth certificate and s.s. card, but if she does, Chelsea can get copies anyway.
It sound s like Rosie is trying to hold her prisoner. Chelsea is an adult now and can make her own decisions.
That said, I hope her mother has cleaned herself up and is going to be a good role model for Chelsea because she definitely needs a good, loving influence in her life.
Sorry to the Rosie fans, but I don’t see much redeeming about her, and she seems like a horribly unpleasant person to be around.
This. I remember an on-air argument she had with Whoopi Goldberg about racism and microaggression. Whoopi basically told Rosie she had to be a black person to understand it. Rosie replied “are you kidding? I’m raising a black kid!”
I literally cringed. She is a piece of work, for sure.
I have to agree. I understand cutting off her finances, fine. But withholding her birth certificate and ss card is controlling, since she’s now 18.
And ridiculous because the Social Security administration will issue a replacement card for free and she can get a copy of her birth certificate from the city hall of wherever her birth was registered or from the state in which she was born.
Perhaps she’s of the mindset, “If you want to leave your family and the mother who loved and raised you to act like an adult, go leave and act like an adult and figure out how to get these things on your own… The social security office is down the street.”
The birth certificate and other cards is no big deal. It’s not hard to get replacements.
Cutting off the money is probably a good idea, since if her bio mom wants to use her for $$ reasons, this will put an end to it. But holding on to her documents will only push that girl further away.
All 18-year-olds feel the need to assert their independence in some way. It’s more complicated when mental health issues are involved, but being supportive is (imo and without knowing the real details of the situation, which is not possible for any of us) the best way to get a young adult through a situation like this.
I’d urge caution before condemning Rosie’s actions. Who do you think sold…sorry…gave this story to TMZ? It wasn’t Rosie. We really don’t know what’s going on.
@mia4s You are correct it was most likely the bio mom , she’s been saying stuff -or should I say selling- to the press for a while now.
Yeah, I wouldn’t jump straight to condemning Rosie. Someone sold this story and while I think Rosie is wrong for keeping her ss card and birth certificate, she may be thinking that she’s doing the girl a favor. She’s obviously not but until you raise a teenager who has troubles, I think it’s hard to assume what you would do. Why isn’t the girl off to college or heading back to highschool? Why was she on Tinder and hooking up with drug dealers? How did she get back in touch with her birth mother? So many questions here but I think it’s too easy to just say Rosie is wrong or the girl is wrong. It’s probably very complicated and was better left off of tmz.
Yeah I don’t think she kept her records that makes no sense. I do think she was very smart in cutting her off financially. Something similar happened in my family that my adopted brother was told he was adopted by his birth mother and his half brother outside of school one day and he had a lot of resentment and anger at our parents for years. He went off the rails and moved in with them and then would demand money or ask for money that went to his mother and his half brother/sister. It was a mess.
I’ve always found her to be a really loud and toxic person. Don’t get her appeal at all.
^THIS
Total nutjob, Rosie. Too many issues to list. Good for Chelsea, no wonder she needed anxiety meds… Let’s just hope she writes a tell-all book! She needs the money now … C’mon, publishers! Or Star, or The Enquirer–Make Chelsea a nice cash offer.
I agree, she’s absolutely wrong to withhold Chelsea’s documents from her. It’s a horrible thing to do, same thing that some homeschooling ultra-Christian parents do to keep their children from leaving their homes when they become adults.
Is is relatively easy to get a new social security card and birth certificate, providing one was issued in your name. So not a big deal that Rosie kept them.
I agree. I’m reading all the “poor Rosie” comments because she’s going through divorce, a custody fight, but I have yet to read “poor Chelsea” being caught up in all of that. I have no idea what her issues are that require medication, but if she is on meds for a mental or emotional problem, I have to think being in the middle of a divorce and custody battle has taken it’s toll. The fact that Rosie is withholding her social security card and birth certificate is troublesome. This young lady is now a legal adult and has a right to her identification. Rosie holding it is an ineffective means of control and punishment. Better to let her go and have at it with her bio mom in the real world. If she comes back she comes back and if she doesn’t, she doesn’t. That doesn’t mean she and Rosie couldn’t still have a relationship. Ultimatums and actions that say all or nothing never work out. Waiting for a tell-all from one or more of the kids in that household because I have a feeling, it’s a maelstrom in the O’Donnell household.
So are all of you forgetting just a week ago the smartest decision this young lady made was meeting some older Tinder hookup and hiding in his attic without alerting anyone to her whereabouts?
She has severe mental and emotional issues and you’re discussing it like she’s Stella trying to get her groove back. Heading to her birth mother, the one that was doing a damn good job of using the media to manipulate the adoptive situation, seems like more proof this young lady is going through a dark time and chasing shadows. Hopefully she can come through it okay.
You have a point, but please consider that very often emotional and behavior problems in teenagers as partly caused by controlling, manipulative, and toxic home environments and parental relationships. Even latent metal illness can be triggered by that kind of environment.
Given what we know about Rosie and how she has treated her exes, maybe we should give Chelsea some benefit of the doubt. She is behaving like someone desperate to escape and there could be a real reason.
No, I haven’t forgotten that part, but that could still mean she was simply tryiing to escape same as using drugs – to forget what’s going on in her life. I don’t doubt she has issues and is emotionally frail, but that still doesn’t mean her life with Rosie was healthy. In fact, I can’t imagine being emotionally fragile and having Rosie as my mother. And, no, that doesn’t mean I think Rosie is an awful person or an awful parent. The daughter sounds desperate and miserable to me. Lots of kids (adult, but still child-like), don’t appreciate their homelife and take their parents for granted, but they don’t turn to Tinder and drugs. Kids that do that are usually trying to escape from underlying problems in the home. I have no facts to judge Rosie as a parent good or bad. I do not assume, though, that just because she adopted children that she did it strictly because she’s a loving person who sought to save unwanted children. It’s pretty difficult to not take into account the PR value for celebrities who adopt children. Couple that with the fact that these kids were adopted into an alternate lifestyle – one that ended badly. One could imagine, too, that Kelly was the parent who was there at home with the kids the most because Rosie has the demanding career that requires her to travel and be absent for long periods. Now the kids have lost Kelly in that respect. They may still see her, but the family dynamics have changed considerably.
Lastly, if I see one more post touting Rosie as a “loving” parent, I’m going to scream. I do not presume to think that just because Rosie is coarse and dominant among peers and in the Hollywood world that she is incapable of love, but I do not see one iota of “loving” in her. I’m sure she loves her kids, but that’s not the same as being a loving parent and I don’t beleive that she is because it’s not her nature.
I agree with you, side-eye. AA calls it the geographical cure. As in my life will be so much better if I go move to Location B, and that’s the first thing I thought of when I read about this. Maybe in her case it will, as I don’t know anything bout Rosie McDonnell, but if she’s got significant issues aside from that, the only thing a geographic cure does is let you exhibit the same symptoms somewhere else.
Meh
If Chelsea was diabetic no one would be casually discussing maybe she needed an escape from her insulin. Take Rosie out of the equation, heck take the birth mother out of the equation and tell me how safe and logical it is to meet up with a stranger older than you on a sex site and hide in his attic/house for days without contacting anyone. These aren’t the actions of someone stable or sensible. What’s the next step? Hitch hiking with whoever pulls their truck over for her? If she needs to get away from Rosie then she has multiple options smarter than the ones she’s chosen.
Jennifer
Chelsea was born addicted to drugs because of her birth mother, she was also born struggling with mental issues because of it. These aren’t things she picked up yesterday, they’re things she’s been struggling with all her life. The birth mother who was eagerly giving multiple interviews about how Chelsea was stolen from her was found to be lying in nearly all of her statements. The issue to me isn’t whether Rosie is A, B, or C its people once again devaluing the severity and seriousness of mental Illness. Well I’ll say as someone who’s been there Chelsea’s actions read like textbook someone off their meds and struggling with making safe choices. She can hate Rosie like poison and still not end up on national news reported missing.
Bluhare
The sad thing is hate her or love her Rosie was on it. When that girl wasn’t where she was supposed to be she reported her missing and gave out the important information. Will Chelsea’s birth mother do the same? Will she be able to understand and gage when something goes from a good mood or being excited to mania? Not to mention being off the meds in situations like this can only enhance the severity of the mental disturbance. It’d be a messed up situation if she was perfectly healthy and just a bit rebellious, but she’s not and this is pretty frightening for what the end result could be.
Rosie is nice. I listened to her radio show on Sirius on my way to work and she really gets a bad rap when people say unkind things about her. She was funny, concerned about her kids, kind to others.
Yes. Cutting her off financially is one thing. Keeping her social security card and birth certificate? No way. That’s disturbing, and it makes me think there’s a lot more going on here than a supposedly messed-up kid rebelling against a supposedly angelic mom. It doesn’t matter how bad you think someone’s choices are; you do NOT withhold their needed documentation from them, period. Doing that is a super common abusive tactic.
Actually my thought was that Rosie is rightfully suspicious of the birth mothers motives and wanted to keep her from getting Chelsea’s social security number. Once that information is out there you can’t pull it back. Talk to anyone who has had their identity stolen.
Of course I don’t know anything about the situation, but I do know that, when you are 18, you think you know a lot more than you do. It is really easy to get mad at your parents and just react when you are that age. I’m sure it’s even worse when your parents are high-profile. I’m not presenting my thoughts coherently, but hopefully my point comes across. I wish I could tell so many 18 year olds (including me when I was 18) how much your perspective changes in 10 years.
+1
You also think the grass is greener on the other side. Or think everything will be better with my bio-Mom because she truly loves me more and I was taken away from her by my rich adoptive parent who bought me. I hope her bio Mom is not taking advantage of this poor girl’s vulnerability and that BOTH moms will work together for the goodness of this poor girl.
This is so true. On the other hand, we don’t know what her home life was truly like with Rosie, so she could be making the best choice for her own mental well-being.
You’re the only one so far whose ventured to imagine life with her bio mom might actually be better than w/Rosie. Everyone assumes she’s left some paradise for Hell with bio mom. Why? Becasue Rosie has money? Because Rosie chose to adopt her? I dont’ see how either of those reasonings equate to an automatic better life. I’m also seriously side-eyeing the details about her bio mom being a drug addict. I’m betting that came from Rosie’s camp in an attempt to tarnish her reputation and biased the public. For all we know, this girl is running away from an abusive home. I’m not passing judgment until or unless I know what it’s really like to live with Rosie and her family. This is purely based on conjecture, but Rosie scares the crap out of me!
Absolutely. Many of us thought we were SO smart at 18, but only some of us really were smart.
I feel very bad for Rosie O’Donnell, and I agree the bio-mom sounds like a nightmare. She’ll milk this for all she’s worth.
I just hope she’s taking her medication and will be ok.
Knowing nothing about any of the people involve… Here are a few thoughts:
1. Chelsea obviously has problems. Not sure what “meds” we are talking about but what she probably requires is competent medical supervision.
2. If her birth mother was and may still be an addict, not sure that she is the best person to run to, but if she is clean and capable of providing love and support, then good on both her and Chelsea.
3. Keeping official documents as a punishment is a di*k move. Cut the cash if you think you have a solid reason (Chelsea using the money for drugs) but not because you are bitter and vindictive. You are responsible for your daughter’s well being and if for a valid reason that means a temporary move with the birth mother or another reliable family member, be supportive. Control / manipulation through cash and threats is not exactly a winning parenting technique. If Chelsea really needs an intervention – again, get a medical evaluation and proper treatment, whether in a facility or at home with daily visits etc.
I agree with all this. I would only add that since the daughter probably has a trust or other accounts, Rosie might be worried the bio mom will use her ss# to open lines of credit, but you don’t need the actual card to do that, just ss#. So if the daughter knows her own ss# and willing gives it to the bio mom, holding onto the card hasn’t accomplished much. (She can’t get a passport without those documents, though, so maybe that’s Rosie’s main concern.)
+1! I was thinking this as well. Maybe she withheld the documents in a way to protect her and prevent her bio mom from taking advantage of her financially.
It sounds like Chelsea is being 18. That means not beig smart for some.
She’s meeting strangers, around drugs, not taking perscriptions to her, and wanting to be with her bio mother who has strong and current addiction issues.
I do not like Rosie, but here I feel for her.
Can Chelsea, even if she’s 18, go away from Rosie? I mean, if she’s under meds, wouldn’t Rosie be legally responsible for her?
No. Legal adults with mental illness, even ones on “meds”, are not owned or controlled by anyone. Not unless the court grants a conservatorship. As someone who takes psychotherapeutic meds, I’m actually really offended by your assumption.
When my daughter was 18, we had a huge blowout. She refused to go to college, was partying and being irresponsible and not following our house rules. She had enrolled in a public service volunteer program, Americorps, of her own free will, and then just blew it off (later, I found out it was because she knew she’d never pass the drug test). She ran off to go live with her dad, who had no rules and had been trying to turn her against me for years. It hurt so bad. But she was 18, there was nothing I could do. I had to let her go. As it turned out, this was the best thing I could’ve done, because it only took a few months for her to realize that her good-time daddy wasn’t so much fun to live with.
That was two years ago. Our relationship is really, really good now. She’s working and supporting herself. I’m still bummed she chose not to go to college, but who knows? She might change her mind some day. In the meantime, she has learned over the past couple years just how good she had it here, and has changed completely.
I’m hoping Rosie and her daughter will work things out. I’m sure it’s much harder when this is all going on in public and everyone is judging you as a parent when they know nothing about the situation. All I know is, Rosie adopted a baby that was born addicted to drugs and raised this child, problems and all, and the birth mother took 17 years to crawl out of the woodwork and make a bunch of ugly claims and accusations. That’s all I need to know.
I’m so happy you and your daughter were able to work things out. As a parent, it’s so hard to let them go, isn’t it? The magic age of 18 doesn’t give them instant good judgment…. I can’t judge Rosie on this one. I hope for the best for all of them.
“The magic age of 18 doesn’t give them instant good judgment….”
That’s something many people on here forget when they are talking about Kylie Jenner.
MSAT and TIFY thank you for being voices of reason here. We have no idea what Rosie is like as a parent. Arguing on The View does not make her an unfit parent. And which one of us is a perfect parent with no regrets? I believe Rosie’s own childhood was not a picnic, and she wants to give other children a better chance than she had. I also believe she loves her children to the best of her ability and she has to be devastated by this. Imagine investing 18 years of love, therapy, etc. into this troubled child, only to have her walk out the door to stay with that woman, who made a big point of saying “I don’t want Rosie’s money.” Rosie HAD to cut Chelsea off financially – the next obvious move is for the birth mother to make a money grab.
I think it’s a real heartbreaker when birth parents re-surface and “change their minds.” A better outcome would have been some kind of compromise, but neither Chelsea nor her birth mother seem like reasonable adults. Rosie IS that child’s mother, and I can’t even imagine how painful it would be to have a deceptive, dishonest woman appear out of the woodwork right when Chelsea needs boundaries and extra support. We will have to wait and see how this plays out.
+100
+200
But how do you know her birth mother is unreasonable? And other people up-thread are stating she is a drug addict not that she WAS. I’m just wondering if this information is factual or assumed and if it is assumed, is it because this article says her mother was a drug user? If that’s the case, I find it questionable that any reliable source would be given details about the birth mother considering those things are private in an adoption, so I can’t help but suspect Rosie and/or her PR team put it out there just so people would think bad of her. Doesn’t seem fair, especially if she did clean up her act and might actually be good for Chelsea. Not liking the unneccessary information about the bio mother because the only reason for it is to taint her and make Rosie look like the poor sad hero. I need more information.
@Jenniferjustice…Once an addict…ALWAYS an addict especially with heroin which was Birth Mommy’s party favour of choice. Sorry that monkey is never off your back you’re ALWAYS in recovery. These things are known bc the bio mom herself made them known trying to claim that Chelsea’s father/Rosie and the adoption agency “took advantage of her addiction to make her sign over the baby”. The woman is not a saint and likely just wants some sweet Rosie money.
It’s pretty heartening to read this,with a six- going -on -18 year old and another daughter in the queue. I have no idea what I would do if everything going on with my family was made public, either!
College will still be there. If she’s not ready for college yet, it won’t do her any good to go now anyway. Some people just have to travel a different path. I didn’t graduate college until I was 35. I don’t recommend anyone wait that long, of course, but it’s what worked for me. I’m glad that things are improving with your daughter, and hope they continue to.
I know I’m probably naive, but I really, really hope the birth mother sincerely loves Chelsea and has her best interest at heart. Although I obviously don’t know Rosie, from everything I’ve read/heard she is a pretty horrible person and I can’t imagine her being a very good mother. If the birth mother is also bad, then poor Chelsea really won’t have anyone to turn to. How awful did her home life have to be for her to decide she’d rather run to a drug addict/dealer that she didn’t even know than stay with Rosie for a couple more weeks until she turned 18? There’s something there if she felt that desperate.
And she supposedly has mental health issues; I don’t know if that is true or not. I thought it was pretty rotten of Rosie to broadcast that publicly when Chelsea took off. I mean, she could have simply said that she has health issues. While mental health issues are nothing to be ashamed of, at 17/18 it’s got be devastating to have a famous parent broadcasting that information to the world. And I wonder if those issues are organic or if they are the result of living with Rosie. Perhaps getting away from her is the best thing she can do for herself.
I suspect eventually, when all the kids are grown (or even before then), we’re going to hear a lot about her parenting.
I think Rosie had to mention the mental health issues, because that explains why she was worried that the girl was off her meds. Mental illnesses can seriously affect your judgment at any age, and some people stop taking needed meds unless they are supervised and then spiral downward quickly. Others have no trouble keeping to the proper schedule. It depends on the person and the illness.
Its hard to know what kind of mom Rosie truly is. But tbh even if she is the bestest, kindest mom in the world Chelsea probably would have still run away. She is a troubled girl who is possibly being manipulated by her bio mom. I sincerely hope that isn’t the case but it seems that way. I wonder how Chelsea is going to adjust to leaving behind a life of ease and luxury to living in humbler environment. I’ll bet that will be her wake up call.
Children who were born addicted to drugs are more prone to develop mental and emotional disorders, sadly. When Chelsea and Parker were very young, Rosie and her partner talked about some of the issues they had. It was one of the reasons why Rosie stopped working as a stand-up comedian and did the daytime talk show – the schedule was set up so she could be home with the kids, because they had a lot of problems and required a lot of care. I don’t think this was any big secret.
The refusal to take her meds has to be an ongoing concern here. Chelsea is now 18 and there is no one to stop her from refusing to take her meds. It sounds like the birth mom is an enabler. This could go very wrong, very quickly. She was already found hiding out in the home of a man she barely knew who was sending her naked photos! Just a barrage of bad decisions here. As a mom, this is so scary and heartbreaking.
It was said ages ago when the adoption was covered Chelsea was born addicted. So, 18 years later the mother is still not clean after probably having a large hand in the issues her daughter had to struggle with from day 1. Maybe not the best choice.
If someone, especially someone with mental/addiction issues goes missing the best thing to do is be as honest and thorough in the explanation of their condition as possible.
What if she’d been suffering some kind of severe break from reality? You would want people to know how to approach her or to be aware she could be in the strangest place and not be aware of who or where she is. There’s a different set of ways you live when you’re caring for someone who’s mentally ill.
I hope someone is helping the younger siblings deal with these recent upheavals.
There are stories out there about the birth mother that aren’t the greatest. She accused Rosie of some pretty horrible things that were found to be untrue- like Rosie stealing her baby and setting her up. ( the adoption was completely legal ) yet has been telling Chelsea as though it’s fact. That info im sure is affecting Chelsea. This woman was a serious drug addict during that time and was unable to raise her daughter. She supposedly is clean now remarried with kids but who really knows. All I am saying is there is way more to the story than this. I’m pretty sure Rosie may have cut her daughter off to keep the birth mother from having anymore motivation because some of it did seem financial from what I have read. Plus the daughter seems to have some issues so who’s to say who may be manipulating that. Many teens think there parents are the worst , add mental illness this could be fueling the fire. So who really knows whats going on here. I know many people don’t like Rosie but she has always seemed like a loving mother and she may be trying to protect her daughter the best way she knows how.
I agree that cutting her off financially was probably a good move. People change, and hopefully her birth mother is not using drugs anymore. But what bothered me is the accusations. The birth mother doesn’t take responsibility for losing her child. She could have come back on the scene and said she regretted that her drug addiction made her incapable of caring for her daughter, and she was glad Rosie stepped in and gave her a good home, and she would like to get to know her. Instead, she sees herself as a victim – her boyfriend “made” her use drugs and “tricked” her into giving up her drug addicted baby. Unless he forced her to take drugs at gunpoint, she needs to accept that her own behavior was the issue. Until she does that, she’s still acting like a drug addict whether she is using or not.
The first thought in my mind was how very *convenient* it is that the bio-mom–a known drug-user–has turned up just as Chelsea turns 18 and might be eligible to access a trust fund or other accounts. She didn’t want Chelsea back at 11 or 14, just now. She talked to TMZ, the National Enquirer, and other outlets that pay sources.
As GNAT says, her “Rosie stole my baby!” spiel is classic addict manipulation–spin lies, blame somebody else, etc. Giving up a child for adoption is a multi-step process now. They don’t just take the baby, you have to sign documents and go to court.
Despite all the bad things people say about Rosie’s attitude, no one knows if she’s a bad mother to her kids. We all know people who are the worse with others but are unbelievably amazing to their children so who knows? Rosie herself had a tough childhood and I don’t think she would treat her kids bad. I could be wrong but like others have mentioned, at that age you think everyone is against you, especially your parents who at times use tough love to prove that they will always have the best intentions and will always be there when you need them
I agree with this…it’s not fair to judge Rosie’s parenting based on her public persona.
Raising teenagers can be hell. You can do everything “right” and things can still go real bad, real fast. (Speaking from experience here–we’re going through another round of issues with my stepdaughter.)
Add in fame, money, adoption and mental illness, and it’s even more complicated.
I don’t trust the Bio mom besides all the thing you listed, if Chelsea’s Bio mom really loved her then she would be thankful that Chelsea was adopted and cared for when she couldn’t do it. She also would never trash talk Rosie, but try to mend Chelsea and Rosie relationship while being there for Chelsea and emotionally supporting her.
“clean” Is a term with perspective. It’s still noted she’s on heavy scripts. Some people after years of addiction need those for constant balance of a very unbalanced system. Chemically they might never be the same. These meds have to give you what you’re not using anymore and are the type to make you unsafe to do a lot of things while being very easy to abuse.
I wonder if Rosie’s ex Kelli is still involved in Chelsea’s life, she doesn’t seem to have been mentioned much in the press of the last few weeks.
I was wondering the same thing
She has two adoptive parents if I remember correctly. So sad.
I was thinking the same thing….where is Kelly in all this drama?? Did Rosie and Kelly both adopt Chelsea? I can’t remember if Rosie had alread adoped Parker and Chelsea, when she got with Kelly….
there were some pictures on one site (can’t recall with) of Chelsea with Kelly that looked recent, so she must still have some contact with Kelly.
Rosie withholding both cash and the documents is probably aimed more at keeping birth mom from using Chelsea. No money coming in for her to take, and although there are ways around it, keeping the paperwork helps prevent birth mom from applying for loans, credit cards, etc. in Chelsea’s name. Rosie likely knows much more about this woman’s past and current circumstances than we do, and probably hopes to minimize the damage done before Chelsea (hopefully) comes to her senses. However difficult she might be as a wife/friend/cohost 🙂 , there’s no evidence to suggest Rosie is anything other than a loving mother who wants the best for her kids. if we judged the quality of parent based on the actions of teenagers, 90% of us would come up severely lacking 😊
Missa’s
post————->. 💯 Percent Spot On!!
True.
A part of me wonders if Chelsea ever reasonably suggested getting to know her birth mother. Or if this is an all or nothing way? Chelsea seems very reactive and unclear on things.
From RadarOnline, Chelsea has been in contact with the birth mother for about a year, and at first Rosie was encouraging the contact, until the birth mother started lying to Chelsea about Rosie and the circumstances of the adoption.
Thanks for that last sentence, Missa! We have struggled over here in the last year with our twenty something’s and it’s HARD to not blame yourself for a lot of what goes on. Hubs and I always have to remind each other that there are SO many other factors in play.
And FLORC, I remember, perhaps on Rosie’s radio show, her talking about how Chelsea was the one child in particular who always had a strong yearning to know where she came from. Not surprised that she’s gone this route. I hope it works out for her…
Absolutely spot on, you can be a crummy person and a great parent. Conversely you can also be a great person and a terrible parent. I’m surprised people still can’t comprehend that in 2015.
This is exactly what I feel is Rosie’s motivation to keep the docs with her. Might be bc my egg donor is the type who DID open crap in my name when I was a teen.
The evidence suggesting Rosie is anything but a loving mom is her withholding her kid’s social security card and birth certificate. That’s not okay. I don’t care what the motivation is. It’s severely controlling; those are not Rosie’s documents, and she has absolutely zero right to keep them.
I think cutting off her money was a good thing to do especially if Chelsea is having drug issues and her birth mother may have her own motives and money could be one of them. It could just be that Chelsea doesn’t like the rules and thinks her birth mother is the cool kind who will let her do anything. I hope her birth mother really wants a healthy and strong relationship but I really have my doubts. Who knows what life was like with Rosie but if her mother is still an addict Chelsea could be in more trouble then she imagines. I hope someone is looking out for her.
This is so incredibly sad, I’m sure Rosie isn’t the easiest woman to live with but I do believe she loves her children. Part of me thinks this is Chelsea rebelling and exploring like teenagers do. It’s smart to cut off the money supply, bio-mom is no peach either.
I’d just like to give Kris Jenner a shout out: This (having him arrested) is what you do when a grown ass man is making moves on your 16-17 year old!!!!
All of this. I bet Rosie is overbearing as a mom, but genuinely committed to the best interest of her kids, which the bio mom probably is not. It’ll be sad if/when the bio mom kicks the daughter out after realizing she’s expensive to care for with no money rolling in from Rosie. But possibly a good learning experience for the kid.
I am sure Rosie isn’t the nicest person in the world, but I have no reason to believe that she doesn’t do her best when it comes to her children. Parenting is not easy. I wish them both the best.
People forget, but Kelly (Rosie’s ex) is also a legal mother of Chelsea’s. This isn’t all on Rosie.
Everyone in this situation has their own issues, so hopefully it can all get worked out. The daughter clearly feels a need to get to know her birth mother, so I hope she can do that and the woman has grown up and changed, otherwise it could be quite a disappointment. Hopefully everyone is OK and gets through this, and the media leaves this girl alone.
Going off to another state to live with a family she doesn’t know in a home that isn’t really home, it’s a recipe for disaster And eventually having to get a real job to support herself, at 18 she’s going to miss Kelly’s home and Rosie’s home, which are her homes. This may well help her appreciate Rosie’s love more after she’s out there for a while..
This biological mother kept selling stories, which was never in the best interest of her daughter. That tells me anything I need to know about this woman.
“This biological mother kept selling stories, which was never in the best interest of her daughter. That tells me anything I need to know about this woman.”
Doesn’t it though, also the way the Bio mom blames Rosie for everything, but has nothing Kelly Chelsea other mother. I guess she only care about the rich and famous parent, which says that she only interested in one thing$$$$$
hmmm….not necessarily. If I truly felt railroaded or tricked or stolen from, and there were two people involved with only one of them being rich and famous, I would blame the famous one because (knowing nothing about this adoption) Rosie was the one with clout and the balls to make it happen – hypothetically.
This sounds awful but this is why I couldn’t adopt. It’s such a slap in the face.
Not any worse than the massive number of cases of biological children turning their backs on their parents and/or turning out completely awful! And in those cases the bio parents are fully responsible for upbringing and genetics. To me that would be a worse blow.
Parenting is a huge gamble, in whatever form.
Yes, parenting is a huge gamble. It can also be a huge disappointment. It is not for everyone.
Yep, my soon-to-be 21 year old son decided that, since I wouldn’t allow him to bring random girls home, come home drunk, and smoke weed in his room, that I was a “mean mom” and so he went to live with “fun dad.” Fun dad, who never was there for him when he was little, was more concerned with chasing tail and living the bachelor life than being a dad, but he’s the “hero” to my son. It broke my heart, but I refuse to run a frat house.
i cut all ties with my family. im not adopted. imo they were toxic and making my life worse . it was the best thing i ever did. i dont feel like i owe them anything.
But children aren’t possessions, especially after they become adults. Adult adoptees are held to such impossibly high standards. Adults from biological families can have whatever relationship they wish with their parents and can have other parental figures in their lives (in-laws, friends’ parents, etc). When adult adoptees do the same thing, they are called ungrateful and worse. It’s not that most couples who adopt do so because their saints, they do so as Plan B.
So true and people don’t take into consideration that many, if not most, adult adopted children are haunted by thoughts of their biological family and the assumption that they didn’t want them. There is an innate desire to connect with who you know to be your natural family – not just bio parents, but siblings too. I have a friend who was adopted and she was fine with it. Her brother was adopted as well and he sought out his bio family when he grew up. It had a horrible affect on him because they had more children after they gave him up, but kept them, so he was the only one they got rid of (in his mind) and it sent him off the rails. He would have done better to never seek them out and stay ignorant re the details, but he had a burning desire to trace his roots. My girlfrfiend never seemed to care much about where she came from. And even if she had looked up her bio family, no matter who or what they were, I doubt it would have had much of an affect on her. She was too solidified in her adopted family and that’s who she connected with on all levels. Some don’t.
I think this birth mom sounds like a real piece of work. As a former heroin addict that doesn’t sound like she works a 12 step program, my guess is she has manipulated Rosie’s daughter. Cue the book or paid interviews on how awful Rosie is in 3..2..1. That woman should be eternally grateful to Rosie for rescuing her baby vs spewing the venom she has. I’m sure she has filled that girl’s head with lies and deception.
This sucks, I can’t even imagine how Rosie must feel. It’s obvious this child has issues, mostly with drugs.. so going with her ex-addict bio mom could only put her in more danger of relapsing (for both of them)..
unless her biological mom is still an addict, holding that against her is unfair. Being an addict in your 20s and being a fully functioning adult in your 40s is possible.
that being said, I can imagine Chelsea has quite a few “wire hangers” stories given Rosie’s general demeanor with everyone and maybe wants to explore her biological family now that she is of legal age to do so. Its also smart that Rosie cut off the money.
Have seen this scenario too many times to count in previous job. This young woman clearly has serious issues, and as another poster pointed out- is going where the grass is less “restrictive”. And now since she’s now 18- hope her next Tinder “date” doesn’t do her physical harm, bec no law enforecement folks will come looking for her. And is it bad to be concerned for the therapy dog as well? One side of me hopes he stayed with Rosie.
This. This girl was within inches of ending up on the news post mortem. This guy barely knew who she was and I’m hoping she wasn’t aware of his criminal past. Who’s to say the next guy isn’t dangerous and leaves her in a ditch somewhere?
If this was anyone else I would have sympathy for them.
Unfortunately this Rosie Odonnel who seems to have a hostile track record with the world.
She seem to be a war with everyone. And the fact that she had the the press broadcast Chelsea is need of medication and might have emotional problems should have been a private matter.
And whether she liked it or not
Chelsea may not have been manipulated into going to visit that guy. She’s a teenager and is capable of maying her own bad decisions even though this person was questionable. And for
rosie to use facebook made matters worse.
I hope Rosie and Chelsea find peace with one another. I hope she will have a positive experience with her birth mother. And I pray she keep in touch with her siblings so she will have someone to talk to.
agree with all of this. Rosie releasing “Chelsea has mental health issues” was cruel and given that the girl was days away from being a legal adult, unnecessary. I can’t imagine what it was like living with Rose O’Donnell and maybe she needs to experience her biological family to find answers…
ita
“she needs meds and doesnt have them with her” was more than sufficient
So wait…you think when someone with mental and emotional issues doesn’t come home, can’t be reached and is effectively missing that you shouldn’t mention their state of mind or health/mental issues in the missing report?
Seriously?
If she was diabetic they’d mention her insulin needs well the truth is this is no different. Her state of mind is severe and Rosie wasn’t sure if she’d been kidnapped or suffered some type of attack. You don’t leave out life saving information so that someone’s feelings don’t get hurt.
You also dont’ use it to make yourself look better as in telling the world that Chelsea is mentally ill so nobody questions why she ran away. I have no proof to tell me why Rosie released the details re her adoptive daughter’s mental stability and maybe it was for her benefit, however, telling the world her daughter’s bio mother is a drug addict is entirely self-serving. Rosie doesn’t know if she still does drugs and I strongly beleive the only reason she put it out there is to make the woman look like a monster and Rosie the knight in shining armour. She gets the side-eye.
Lol, you’re doing a lot of speculating Jennifer.
You seem to have a dislike for Rosie whereas I’m indifferent, what I am interested in is how people respond to the issue of someone mentally ill going temporarily missing and its eye-opening. People are saying Rosie shouldn’t have mentioned details about Chelsea’s mental illness in her missing report and I’m flabergasted. So if your child was missing you’d hide a crucial detail about their health and mental state to do what? Protect their feelings? So if they die and never make it back home you can comfort yourself with the thought you never told the world they were mentally ill?
I looked up the report and it had only the smallest details suggesting 1. She is mentally ill and 2. She has a service pet to assist her with dealing with the outside world. No long flowing paragraphs on what a mess she is or how she’s such a screwed up freak. Just basic facts. Furthermore the history of Chelsea’s birth mother came to special prominence recently because the birth mother brought it up. As in she used her prior addiction and mental state as an excuse for why she felt Chelsea was stolen from her (which was proven to be untrue).
Oh my goodness what a mess. The situation does indeed sound complicated, but I can’t help and wonder if cutting off her daughter financially is a wise move or one that’ll further strain the relationship. Obviously we don’t know the extent of what is going on behind closed doors, but the whole situation is extremely sad.
Totally cutting her off financially is very extreme. I would leave a certain amount just to live on. Even though she’s an adult in the eyes of the law, Chelsea is still a child in many ways.
Just tell her to keep in touch just to know she’s okay and keep the matter private.
Stop with the passive aggressive, martyr crap
Why should Rosie be paying for Bio Mom and her brats through Chelesa? She’s 18 and has decided she doesn’t want Rosie as a Mom….so she shouldn’t get any of Rosie’s money. End of story. Nor should her heroin addict mom.
Well last week she possibly ran away to hook up with some guy with a criminal background from Tinder and this week she ran off to go to her birth mother who’s been selling stories about her adoptive daughter to the press. I think she’s attempting to make sure the woman doesn’t clean her (the daughter) out, same with holding onto important legal documents.
The message I get from this is adoption makes bonding really difficult. My elder sibling is adopted and we didn’t bond. In fact it was abusive with me on the receiving end of the abuse. Now we’re middle aged and don’t see each other and that’s a good thing.
Adoption can work out great but there are no guarantees. It is really nature over nurture
I’m sorry that this is the message you get from this story because there is no guarantees with bio kids ether and there are a lot of Bio siblings that don’t bond and are abusive to one another. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
The same thing happens in many, many biological families.
I’m sorry you went through that, but it might have been the same if she were your biological sister. One of my (biological ,full sibling) sisters was AWFUL to me when I was a child, at times physically, verbally and mentally abusive, and I’m 13 years younger than her. She’s changed a lot in adulthood, and I’ve learned to tell people to f off when need be, so our relationship is way better and she is respectful now. Anyway the point is that some people are going to be, to put it mildly, difficult no matter what setting they grow up in.
I agree. And although it’s true that bio kids have the same problems with bonding sometimes, the numbers are greater with adopted children. Sometimes they don’t get held enough as babies before they’re adopted and didn’t get a chance to bond with anybody and it makes it difficult for them to connect with anyone after that. There is definitely something to be said for human touch and eye contact.
There are no guarantees with anyone, adopted or related by blood.
It’s sad that it makes you think that way but I can understand why it does. This story is sort of the worst of the adopted situation in many ways. I honestly feel bad for Chelsea, mental illness in the 20’s are such a damn struggle and I’m sure her minds going in a million different directions at once as to what she should do.
Jeez, the is a sad story all around. Rosie sounds like she would be a nightmare to be around. But I think her intentions are good and she seems to really care for Chelsea. And I feel for Chelsea having to deal with depression or whatever at such a tender age. I hope these two can reconcile soon. EEK!
Who says she is discarding her adoptive mom for her biological mom? I don’t see anything wrong with someone finding their biological mom and getting to know her and any siblings that they might have. many adopted children long to know their bio family and as long as there isn’t any danger, why not be able to trace your roots and find out where you came from?
Sounds as if Rosie forbid her to contact the women. Teenagers love it when tell them not to do anything.
It would have destroyed me but I would have just let the girl keep in contact with the birth mother. If she has an agenda let her be the one to find out. Kids are smarter than you think
Yes on all that! Let her explore that whole bio mom relationship while any money going Chelsea’s way sits in an iron-clad trust until she’s at least 30.
Rosie was allowing her to stay in contact with and speak to her mother, it was only recently (right around the time behavior got more extreme and more stories being sold about her popped up) that she cut off communication.
It’s a wait and see situation but it seems like her mother is in a position to manipulate to see what she can get out of the relationship since Anna is now legally an adult and has/had access to money. Kinda reminds me of Justin Bieber’s Dad.
The woman was bashing Rosie. How long do you turn the cheek for that kind of treatment?
No, she just said she wanted her to be 18 before she contacted her bio mother.
Sounds like this has been planned long in advance. How do we know for sure the biological mother is all bad? Because Rosie said so?
Thank you.
Because she kept “selling” stories to the Enquirer, etc. Anyone who truly loved their child, a long-lost child especially, would never do that. The birth mom has inserted herself before this in such a way as to try to put a wedge between Chelsea and Rosie and said inappropriate things in the articles. I think she is a lowlife for doing that.
It’s completely natural for an adopted child to want to connect with birth parent(s). It’s also obvious something went down at Rosie’s home since Chelsea ran off and hid like she did. Rosie cutting her off financially and refusing to give an 18 year old person her documents is just further proof. Rosie is punishing Chelsea for not doing as she says. But the girl is 18. A good mother would offer advise AND support her child whether or not the child takes the advice. Cutting her off and keeping her legal papers is just vindictive.
She has mental issues and hiding in the attic of a stranger with criminal past doesn’t exactly put much credence in her ability to make sound decisions. 18 isn’t a magical number where you become an adult and never make childish or misinformed decisions again.
She has mental issues according to Rosie, who classily told the world but none of us have proof. 18 is not a magic age of adult decisions but it is the age when you can legally do what you want and parents have to loosen the reins and allow a person to make some mistakes and figure stuff out. The current generation of entitled yet clueless twenty somethings out there are the result of parents not allowing their kids to grow and make dumb choices and then when their kid does do something dumb mommy and daddy step in and make it all better teaching the kid nothing about accountability and how to learn from mistakes.
Okay, so she doesn’t have mental issues (let’s just explore this train of thought) is perfectly mentally sound and chose first to meet up with an older man she lied to about her age. Since she is 18 she didn’t respond to the news or media to politely tell them her being reported missing was false and she is fine and wants nothing to do with her mother. Instead she hid in this guys house until police literally came to his door and he led them to her. Does that sound better to you?
You’re talking about entitled and clueless twenty something’s in defense of a young lady who decided it was better to be reported missing for several days then tell anyone her plans. A young lady you suggest could have been perfectly sane while doing all this and she shouldn’t be cut off financially because her mother should support her decision to screw up? I don’t see any news stories of Rosie dragging Chelsea back into the house screaming so it would seem she’s following your advice to a tee.
Don’t forget to change the locks.
I would.
I take the word heroin pretty seriously.
Way too much ‘sketch’ in this whole game.
the teen years can be some of the most brutal experiences you’ll go through as a parent. My heart goes out to Rosie and Chelsea.
I think adoption is a wonderful thing, and those who adopt are selfless, brave people, but this is exactly why I chose not to pursue domestic adoption when I was told I probably could not have children biologically (I’m currently pregnant, but it took years and many failed rounds of IUI and then IVF). I didn’t want to be a placeholder that would be thrown over eventually for the biological mother. I didn’t want to co-parent with a biological mother at any point because I felt like I would be a glorified babysitter. Knowing what it was like to be a moody, rebellious teenager, I figured that at some point this idealized biological mother would seem preferable to the one who is trying to discipline and impose boundaries, making the kid eat his/her vegetables and harping on about grades. After sleepless nights caring for the child as a demanding newborn, changing diapers and years of worry, hearing “I wish I could live with my REAL mother” would break my heart and probably destroy my soul. I know there are many adoption success stories that are nothing like what I envisioned, but I saw a situation like this with a child in my husband’s family, and it just wasn’t for me, sadly.
As an adoptive parent to 2 children, born domestically, I can tell you that ANY adopted child may make their bio parent out to be better than their adoptive parent. We have 2 open adoptions and my children know where they come from and I will never be looking over my shoulder wondering if that man/woman is their relative. Just because their birthparents are overseas doesn’t mean that a child can’t make fantastical thoughts about how they are better than you. Additionally, children born overseas face many issues that children born domestically do not and which shouldn’t be dismissed (loss of country, language, culture; stays in subpar foster care or orphanages resulting in delays). Parenting is hard, no matter how you become a parent, and typically, at some point, ALL children will hate their parents and wish they could have different ones. Only difference is that, in adoption, they do have a different set of parents out there, whether domestic or foreign adoption.
From reading stories about what happened, whether true or not, it seems to me as if Rosie is making a difficult situation even more difficult.
And the things that allegedly occurred before and after Rosie finally called the cops doesn’t add up to me either.
I could go on to write a long summary, but in the end, Rosie should just hand over the SS card, the birth certificate, offer up a college fund, continue to pay for medical insurance, and just wish her well instead of basically pulling the rug out from under Chelsea’s feet and washing her hands of Chelsea.
… countdown to Chelsea’s pregnancy.
I don’t think people understand what serious mental illness is like… it almost sounds like this girl might (might! I don’t know the whole story) need a conservatorship-type situation (see: Bynes, Spears).
I REALLY hope she gets back on her meds and doesn’t find herself in a bad situation with the bio mom, but living with bio mom does NOT sound like a good place for her. I mean, come on, bio mom has been selling stories and feeding her daughter lies – she sounds super sketchy.
I get why people think it was wrong to keep an 18-year-old’s documents, but as others have explained, what if bio mom does have bad intentions & could get ahold of her SS#? Cutting her off financially was also the right move, so now she’s useless to anyone who would prey on her for her money. Hopefully she’s not doing drugs, but now she won’t have drug money (I know there are other ways of course to get drugs). Maybe once she’s flat broke, far from home, she’ll realize she needs help and will go home.
This is one of those situations that might have to get worse before it gets better, given that she’s now an adult and Rosie can’t just exercise parental authority. Ugh. (I’ve seen it before with my aunt trying to save my cousin. He died at 22.)