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Rosie O’Donnell With Her Family: Photos of the Comedian With Her 5 Kids

By:
March 12, 2025 5:55PM EDT
Rosie O'Donnell With Her Family: Photos of the Comedian With Her 5 Kids
Stephen Lovekin

Rosie O’Donnell is a successful comedian, talk show host, and a mother of five. See her sweetest moments with her family here.

Rosie O’Donnell isn’t just an accomplished comedian and talk show host, she’s also a mother of five. The ‘Flinstones’ star adopted four children with her first wife, Kelli Carpenter. The longtime partners married in 2004 briefly before breaking up in 2007. Rosie also has a daughter with late wife Michelle Rounds. The pair married in 2012 and adopted daughter Dakota together in January 2013 before splitting in 2015. Sadly, Michelle passed away in 2017.

Rosie has been a huge advocate for letting same-sex couples adopt. She got involved after a foster daughter was taken out of her custody in Florida in 2001, solely due to her orientation, and has advocated against laws barring LGBTQ couples from adopting in Florida and elsewhere.

Click through the gallery to learn more about Rosie and her family.

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Rosie O’Donnell & Daughter Chelsea in 2006

Rosie O’Donnell & Daughter Chelsea in 2006
Marion Curtis/Starpix/Shuttersto

Here, Rosie O’Donnell and daughter Chelsea appear at the 27th Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner in New York on October 16, 2006.

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Rosie, Parker & Chelsea In 2010

Rosie, Parker & Chelsea In 2010
Carolyn Contino/BEI/Shutterstock

Parker O’Donnell, Rosie O’Donnell, and Chelsea O’Donnell appear at the opening night of the Broadway production of Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ on Apr. 20, 2010. Parker is her eldest, adopted in 1995 with Kelli. Rosie adopted Chelsea in 1997.

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Rosie O’Donnell & Son Parker At Opening Night Of ‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’

Rosie O’Donnell & Son Parker At Opening Night Of ‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’
Greg Allen/Shutterstock

Rosie O’Donnell plants a kiss on son Parker O’Donnell’s cheek as they arrive for opening night of ‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’ on Nov. 13, 2008. The show was Rosie’s close friend Sir Elton John’s stage musical version of hit film ‘Billy Elliot’, about an English miner’s son who dreams of being a ballet dancer.

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Rosie & Parker In 2010

Rosie & Parker In 2010
Chris Pizzello/AP/Shutterstock

Rosie O’Donnell and son Parker O’Donnell appear in a panel for the HBO documentary ‘A Family is a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration’ during HBO’s Television Critics Association winter press tour in 2010.

Talking about her LGBTQ advocacy in 2002 with Larry King, Rosie said, “I never in my life had been persecuted against for being a gay person, although I do understand that gay people go through that on a constant and daily basis. It was not at all my reality. When I was not allowed to adopt a foster child I had raised in my home for 16 months, a child who had been in the system since she was a baby, who had been in 20 other homes and had never been able to stay, when the state of Florida said to me, ‘You are unworthy because you’re gay,’ I said it is time for me to stand up and say this law is wrong. And that’s why I did it.”

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Rosie & The Kids In Miami

Rosie & The Kids In Miami
©2007 RAMEY PHOTO 310-828-3445

Boat trip! Rosie O’Donnell and family enjoy the Miami sun on Dec. 31, 2007.

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Kelli Carpenter & Rosie O’Donnell In 2007

Kelli Carpenter & Rosie O’Donnell In 2007
Amanda Schwab/Starpix/Shuttersto

Kelli Carpenter and Rosie O’Donnell appear together at the 18th GLAAD Media Awards in New York on Mar. 26, 2007. The duo married in 2004 in San Francisco two weeks after then-Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized the granting of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Her decision to go to San Francisco to marry Carpenter was seen as a show of defiance against then-President George W. Bush over his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment. The marriage was deemed illegitimate by the state after, however. She said in 2004, “We were both inspired to come here after the sitting President made the vile and hateful comments he made … [O]ne thought ran through my mind on the plane out here – with Liberty and Social justice for all.”

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Rosie & Kelli Get Married

Rosie & Kelli Get Married
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP/Shutterst

Happy couple! Rosie O’Donnell walks with her partner Kelli Carpenter after getting married at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004. The couple was married by San Francisco Treasurer Susan Leal, one of the city’s highest ranking lesbian officials, and serenaded by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Rosie O’Donnell & Michelle Rounds At The 2014 Tony Awards

Rosie O’Donnell & Michelle Rounds At The 2014 Tony Awards
Broadimage/Shutterstock

Rosie O’Donnell and Michelle Rounds attend the 68th Annual Tony Awards on Jun. 8, 2014. The couple adopted daughter Dakota in January 2013.

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM
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Rosie O’Donnell & Michelle Rounds In 2014

Rosie O’Donnell & Michelle Rounds In 2014
Carolyn Contino/BEI/Shutterstock

Rosie O’Donnell and Michelle Rounds appear at the opening of the play ‘The Real Thing’ on Broadway in Oct. of 2014. Tragically, Michelle took her own life in 2017.

March 21, 2022, 10:45AM