Discovering Katherine Heigl’s Family Life: Meet Her Three Adorable Children Naleigh, Adalaide, and Joshua

Hazel Willow1 day agoLast Updated: 14 April 2025

0 0 6 minutes read

Katherine Heigl is raising her three children away from the spotlight.

The *Firefly Lane* star shares daughters Naleigh, 15, and Adalaide, 13, along with son Joshua, 8, with her husband Josh Kelley. The couple first met on the set of Kelley’s music video “Only You” in 2005 and got married in December 2007 in Park City, Utah.

Heigl and Kelley were eager to start a family right from the beginning.

“I always thought I’d be scared, but I’m ready,” Kelley shared before their wedding. “I’m 27, and I feel I’ve done more than most people will do in a lifetime. I’m ready to settle down, start a family, and build my Kelley empire.”

The couple welcomed their first child in September 2009 after adopting Naleigh from South Korea. They expanded their family with Adalaide in 2012 and Joshua in 2017.

Currently, the family of five enjoys a peaceful life on their ranch in Utah, which they moved to full-time in 2010. “In our minds, this became the best place to be for our family,” the mother of three explained. “It’s quiet, and there’s a different way of living here.”

Heigl added, “Our time is centered around being home and being together … it’s grounded. I think we just appreciate the quietness of this lifestyle. There is just more time for each other.”

While the *Grey’s Anatomy* alum prefers to raise her kids away from Hollywood, she openly shares her love for her family on social media.

In January 2023, Heigl spoke with NewBeauty about her approach to raising her daughters to avoid becoming people-pleasers.

“I do think there is this under-the-radar, unsaid, collectively understood vibe that women are meant to be ‘pleasing.’ I see it in my young daughters, and it’s just this odd, inherent social thing,” she remarked. “I’m certainly not teaching them to be like that, but they’re picking it up somewhere. I keep saying, ‘I need you to understand that that is not your job.'”

Keep reading for everything to know about Katherine Heigl’s three kids.

**Nancy Leigh “Naleigh” Mi-Eun Kelley, 15**

In 2009, Heigl and Kelley adopted their first child, daughter Nancy Leigh Mi-Eun Kelley (affectionately known as Naleigh), from South Korea when she was just an infant. Naleigh was born with a congenital heart issue and underwent open-heart surgery before joining her family.

Heigl has shared that adoption was always part of her and Kelley’s family plan. “Josh and I started talking about [adoption] before we were even engaged,” she told *Scholastic Parent & Child* in 2014. “My sister Meg is Korean, and my parents adopted her three years before I was born. I wanted my own family to resemble the one I came from, so I always knew I wanted to adopt from Korea. We have talked about having biological children as well, but we decided to adopt first. I just wanted to be a mom. So however we do that, it’s fine with me.”

Now entering her teenage years, Naleigh is one of only two kids in her grade without a personal phone. In a 2021 interview with *Parents*, Heigl expressed her concerns about social media’s impact on children her age, saying, “I know she thinks I’m being a tyrant, but I worry about the effect of social media on kids her age. I watched *The Social Dilemma*. So I’m like, ‘Go ahead and hate me. I’m trying to save you!'” She added that Naleigh has been “sneaking my iPad and creating TikTok videos without my permission.”

On Naleigh’s 13th birthday, Heigl shared an emotional tribute on Instagram, reflecting on how her daughter changed her life. “This girl. The girl that made me a mother. The girl that gave my life purpose. Meaning. Direction. Boundless eternal love. This girl turns 13 today. 13. She is officially a teenager. I can’t seem to process it,” Heigl wrote.

Although Heigl aims for a typical childhood for her kids in Utah, they have occasionally joined her on set. Naleigh made a memorable appearance on *The View* when she was little, and ten years later, she watched her mother on the same show from the audience.

“Naleigh came to us at 9 months, and three days later, I got on a plane and went to work in Atlanta. At the time, becoming a new mother, I was just like, ‘I got it, I got it, I can handle this,'” Heigl explained on the show. “You know, ‘They’ve told us we can have it all. We can have careers and families and it’s all going to be great. It’s all going to work out.’ I never saw that baby … she bonded with my husband — of course — he was with her. So I was always afraid I had missed this opportunity to bond with her, and that she didn’t love me.”

**Adalaide Marie Hope Kelley, 13**

Heigl and Kelley adopted their second child, a daughter named Adalaide, from Louisiana in 2012.

During an appearance on *The Tonight Show*, Heigl described Adalaide’s adoption as “serendipitous.” Initially, she and Kelley wanted to pursue international adoption again, but the process proved very challenging. “Korea had gotten very hard to adopt from, and China had a very long waiting list. I was kind of, ‘Tick, tick, tick. Any day now!'” she recalled.

They had just started looking into domestic adoption when they received a call about Adalaide: “My lawyer called and said, ‘There’s a birth mother, and she’s due in four weeks. She’s all yours if you want her!'”

As Adalaide and Naleigh have matured, they have begun to inquire more about their origins. “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,'” Heigl shared in her April 2021 cover story for *Parents*.

Heigl also discussed Adalaide’s vibrant personality and interests. “She’s my pistol, all piss and vinegar,” the actress said of her “fearless” middle child. “She actually wants to start barrel racing,” she added, noting Adalaide’s love for riding horses on their ranch. “And she loves to make Naleigh laugh.”

In April 2022, Heigl posted a series of photos on Instagram to celebrate Adalaide’s 10th birthday. “My beautiful, fiery, witty girl turns 10 today,” Heigl began. “Ten years ago today, Adalaide made her way into the world and into our arms. She was the smallest baby I had ever seen. Weighing in at just 4 pounds 11 ounces. I could place her in the palm of my hand, and her little legs would only reach an inch past my wrist. I started calling her peanut after that. My beautiful, delicious, observant peanut.”

**Joshua Bishop Kelley Jr., 8**

In June 2016, it was confirmed that Heigl and Kelley were expecting their third child.

“The Kelley clan is thrilled to announce that we are expecting a third addition to our family,” the couple stated at the time. “Naleigh and Adalaide could not be more excited to welcome their new sibling into the fold, and Josh and I are overflowing with joy and gratitude.”

Joshua Bishop Kelley Jr. was born on December 20, 2016. Just after his birth, the couple shared their joy in an interview, explaining how Joshua came to be.

“It was a surprise! I knew I wanted to expand our family; I knew I wanted to have more children,” Heigl revealed. “I just didn’t know how we were going to go about that.”

She later shared in an interview that she “was so relieved” to learn she was having a boy. “It was actually a big reason why I was vacillating between trying to get pregnant or adopting again, since with adoption you can specify the sex,” she joked, adding, “I just thought, another girl could mean lifelong therapy for all of us.”

At just 5 years old, Joshua was already “obsessed with Spider-Man and the Hulk,” according to Heigl. He also enjoys helping his mom on set. During filming for season 2 of her Netflix show *Firefly Lane*, Heigl brought Joshua along, capturing a photo of him wearing a director’s headset. “Future director? ❤ #FireflyLane #FireflyLaneSeason2 #behindthescenes #family,” she captioned the post on Instagram.

Recently, Joshua started kindergarten, which made Heigl a bit emotional. On the first day of school, she shared a collection of photos featuring all three of her children, writing, “Well, it’s that time of year again. Back to school for these two and off to kindergarten for my last and final baby.” She added, “I feel funny. Like maybe I might start crying. Or maybe I’ll just run around the house for the next seven hours intermittently yelling FREEDOM!!! We’ll see. 😏❤️”

Stay tuned for more updates from HiCelebNews!