© 2026 ABC News

She said she asked her big sister about her experiences with racism as a child, especially when she wasn't accompanied by their parents, and became \"very angry\" after hearing her Meg's blunt reply.

\"I was raised with adoption, looking beyond skin color was the norm for me, and I just believed that love is love -- it doesn't matter what we look like,\" Heigl explained. \"But then when I asked my sister, Meg, if she had been treated one way when she was out in public with our parents and a different way when she was out by herself without them, she said, 'Oh yeah, all the time!'\"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katherine Heigl (@katherineheigl)

She said she realized she \"had been so naive.\"

\"I had to calm down and realize, 'OK, this isn't about how it makes me feel. It's about how I need to protect my daughters and prepare them for the world,'\" the actress told the outlet. \"Because I can't change society in one fell swoop.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/katherine-heigl-reveals-talks-adopted-daughters-birth-parents/story?id=76249370","legacySlug":"/culture/story/katherine-heigl-reveals-talks-adopted-daughters-birth-parents-76249370","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"16:28","publishDate":"03-04-2021","updatedTime":"01:22","updatedDate":"03-05-2021","socialImage":{"alt":"Actress Katherine Heigl at Radio City Music Hall on May 14, 2018 in New York.","credit":"Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/heigl-file-gty-ml-210304_1614866959752_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"3/4/2021 16:28:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":76249370,"headline":"Katherine Heigl on raising her adopted daughters ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA KATHERINE HEIGL","description":"\"They do have more questions as they get older,\" she said. ","duration":"27:00","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/02/210226_gma_digital_greys_black_history2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["75681259","75536936","75563578"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"February 4, 2021","headline":"Katherine Heigl reflects on leaving 'Grey's Anatomy': 'I did the right thing for me'","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/katherine-heigl-reflects-leaving-greys-anatomy-thing-75681259","id":75681259,"image":{"alt":"Katherine Heigl reflects on leaving 'Grey's Anatomy': 'I did the right thing for me'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/katherine-heigl-01-gty-iwb-210204_1612449491771_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Frank Ockenfels/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"January 28, 2021","headline":"Katherine Heigl reacts to how Justin Chambers was written off 'Grey's Anatomy'","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/katherine-heigl-reacts-justin-chambers-written-off-greys-75536936","id":75536936,"image":{"alt":"Katherine Heigl reacts to how Justin Chambers was written off 'Grey's Anatomy'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/heigl-file-gty-ml-210128_1611844487099_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Michael Loccisano/Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"January 29, 2021","headline":"Katherine Heigl on how being labeled 'difficult' by Hollywood affected her","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/katherine-heigl-mental-health-suffered-hollywood-labeled-difficult-75563578","id":75563578,"image":{"alt":"Katherine Heigl on how being labeled 'difficult' by Hollywood affected her","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/heigl-3-gty-rc-210129_1611931115769_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"David Livingston/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Katherine Heigl on raising her adopted daughters ","description":"\"They do have more questions as they get older,\" she said. ","duration":"27:00","uploadDate":"03-04-2021","publication":"03-04-2021","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/02/210226_gma_digital_greys_black_history2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/02/210226_gma_digital_greys_black_history2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/katherine-heigl-reveals-talks-adopted-daughters-birth-parents-76249370"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977374","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977531","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132962364","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132958371","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132880952","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Katherine Heigl on raising her adopted daughters ","pubTime":"11:28","pubDate":"03-04-2021","modTime":"20:22","modDate":"03-04-2021","taxonomyTags":"none","id":76249370,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"Brittany Berkowitz","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Katherine Heigl on raising her adopted daughters ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA KATHERINE HEIGL","videoId":76249370,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/katherine-heigl-reveals-talks-adopted-daughters-birth-parents-76249370"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/76249370","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/76249370","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};