Update: Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson adopts baby girl

Update: According to Page Six, the adoption has gone through and Casey was spotted showing off photos of her new daughter at a recent benefit.

Originally posted March 24th: Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson, 27, says she is in the process of adopting a little girl from Kazakhstan but on the same token, is disappointed she will not be able to adopt from Cambodia due to new adoption laws.

Click below for the rest of the original article, including why Casey needs 6 bedrooms!

She said,

I went to Cambodia almost two yearsago [and] fell in love with this little girl, a 2 1/2-year-old namedLavissa, I was devastated because I had bonded for three weeks withthis child. I was buying her clothes in Cambodia. I was videoing her. Iwas doing everything.

Casey says she finally cheered up when her godmother, Diandra Douglas, the ex-wife of Michael Douglas, adopted a baby girl from Kazakhstan. Casey remarked,

She’sthe most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. She’s blond-haired, blue-eyed,looks just like Diandra, and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh! This is what I’mgoing to do.

When the adoption goes through, Casey said she plans to name her baby Ava Monroe after her idol Marilyn Monroe.Casey also added that she does not plan on spoiling her child. Shedenied that she lives any differently than the rest of us, although hernext house will need:

Atleast six bedrooms because I need a room for my closet and shoes andhandbags, and [my fiancé and I] both need an office. There needs to bea nanny’s room, a baby’s room, a master bedroom and a guest room.

Whew!

Source: NY Post

Thanks to CBB reader Varsha.

Comments

I have never heard her before, but the topic is very close to me. I am currently looking into adopting internationally and fell in love with 2 of the most beautiful Kazakh girls. The only thing that is a major set back for us is the cost. It is at least $30k to adopt from this country and you must make 2 trips or stay over a month total. $30k just is not feasible for us. It breaks my heart that we can’t make this happen, I wish I was rich and privileged sometimes. Kazakhstan is one of the most expensive countries to adopt from. If anyone has any suggestions on affording international adoption please post here or email me at [e-mail] (I hope that posting my email in this instance is okay…!).

- MMM on March 24th, 2007

During this interview she sounds like she is not intelligent and very spoiled. I don’t know if she’d make a good mother.

- Lola on March 25th, 2007

I agree with Lola. In this interview, Casey Johnson doesn’t really explain her love of wanting to be a mother. Is it me or does it seem that people who have money just want to adopt ’cause it’s the fashionable thing to do? I mean, Angelina is another story. You see the work she does for the United Nations and she actually admits that Actors are grossly overpaid for what they actually do. She donates a large percentage of her income to poor countries, etc. In Casey Johnson’s interview, she makes sure that we all know about the bigger home she’ll be buying to house her clothes and shoes and nannies…That’s nice!

- JosieK on March 25th, 2007

I think its very unfair to judge someone’s intent from a blurb of an article written in the NYP, which is a tab, who loves to sensationalize everything…. If she is considering adoption, she already knows the hurdles she has to go thru. (home studies, etc).

Regardless of her intention, she is trying to help a child.

- Adore1 on March 25th, 2007

Adore1: I agree. I don’t see how such conclusions can be drawn from three small paragraphs. It amazes me how people are so quick to jump to conclusions about people that we don’t even know.

- Grace on March 25th, 2007

Yes, the “rest of us” live in 6 bedroom houses just to hold all of our clothing and shoes.

- Lorus on March 25th, 2007

I’m just upset that she felt she had to change the baby’s name. Lavissa is beautiful. It seems like there’s a law saying that baby girls in Hollywood can only be named Ava, Lola, or Ella. It’s getting old, people.

- Anney on March 25th, 2007

Anney: I think you misunderstood the interview. Lavissa was the name of the child that she wanted to adopt originally but was unable to. The article doesn’t state what the child she actually is adopting was originally named.

- Grace on March 25th, 2007

What does this girl do that she needs an office of her very own and a room just for the nanny? I understand that she is an heiress but….anything else? What in the world does she need a nanny for? So she’s going to adopt so she can hand the child over to someone else to take care of? I’m sorry but all of these celebrities with nannies (sometimes multiple nannies!) rub me the wrong way. I can understand having someone to watch the child/children when you need to go to an important function or while you’re working/on set. A lot of us use daycare or babysitters for those reasons. But I see no reason why you need them living with you day and night full-time, especially when you only have ONE child. The first time I heard of Casey Johnson was about two years ago during a television interview with Dateline about trust fund babies and she sounds just as spoiled as she did back then.

- Jessica on March 26th, 2007

I agree with Jessica, nannies should be there for when you need to goto work or an important function. I can not believe the number of celebrity moms that I see, who aren’t working, because they are off taking care of their children, and yet they goto the park with their nanny, they go on walks with their children and nanny. Can they not handle to take the kids out by themselves? Especially one or two children, yes we all have babysitters but its gettin really old seeing women passing their children off to someone else, while they are standing right there.

- KarinaLena on March 27th, 2007

I realize that this is being posted a moth later but it is very common for nannies to live in with the family. You may not agree but these people are not like you or me they usually have live in staff. From someone to cook for them to someone to clean their homes , and someone a butler to answer the door and run the house hold, I see the green eye monster, and lets face it if you could afford it you would have someone to, the rich is said aren’t like you or me , so why expect them to be? Do you really think they care about what you think guess what they don’t your not paying there bills!

- karla on April 28th, 2007

Lola, JosieK, Lorus, Jessica & KarinaLena:

I agree with all of you 100%!

MMM- I empathize with you… have you looked online for info.? I’ve also been researching international adoption and a couple of things that I have learned are that most states will offer you a $10,000. tax credit, some employers also offer financial “benefits”- if you are working- it is worth it to check with your employer. Also- I have read of families who hold fund-raisers to finance an adoption- you might be surprosed at how many of your friends’ and family would be willing to “help out”- if they knew that you needed the “help”… I have also heard of couples using their credit cards (not sure how realistic/feasible this option is) to fiance an adoption and then when tax $$$, etc. comes back- paying off their debt that way, or if you own a house- you may want to look into taking out a home equity line- that’s always a low-cost option as well, since you only “draw” on the account when the $$$ is needed… anyway- I hope that these suggestions help and always keep your dream of adopting close to your heart- it will happen for you when it is meant to.

- Chloe on June 5th, 2007

I know Casey Johnson is a Type 1 diabetic, like me, and it is really tough to have kids…I mean you can definitly do it but I don;t know how the heiress lifestyle & the constant drag of diabetes and pregnancy care go together…..

- candygirl on June 5th, 2007

I am not familiar with adoption procedings but why the F does it cost so much money?? These kids all over need a good home and if people are willing to give it to them, what costs 30,000 per child? Am I missing something here? Can’t there be some sort of legality only middle man to take care of the paperwork and have the new parents pay for travel expenses, etc. Who is profiting from these adoptions? Could we had someone from the US go to another country, and set up an office where people could come and bring their children that they cannot or do not want to take care of. I am sorry for all of these questions, I just do not understand why all of these countries complain of such poverty stricken cirucmstances and high number of chidlren deaths but they don’t make it easy or affordable for normal every day people to help by adopting some of these children. Also, I remember when Angelina adopted Z, she said that she did not know if she was HIV/AIDS positive yet but she would have adopted her still either way. Was Z in an orphanage? If they were taking good care of her (if she was in an orphanage), wouldn’t they have known either way if she was sick or not? Doesn’t it seem more feasible for these orphanages to have less kids versus more kids so the money? Don’t they want the children to get adopted? Are private adoptions allowed in other countries? I get the feeling that they want us to help by adopting but they also want to cash in on the transaction as well. So really, the best interest of the child is not what is most important for some of these countries is it? Also, why are there adoption restrictions in Cambodia? Why would they put a stop to people wanting to help? I just do not understand!!! If anyone can answer any of my questions, I would appreciate it!

- angelbaby33 on June 5th, 2007

I read the Vanity Fair article that these quotes were taken from. It seemed from the very quotes attributed to her, that she viewed a child as a “must have” accessory. She seemed more interested in the cute clothes she’d be able to buy. And really, what does she need a live in nanny for?

- Carey on June 5th, 2007

From what I have heard of Casey Johnson, she is a Paris Hilton type of heiress (well not quite as scandalous)…

I do worry that there is a trend starting amongst some of these “celebutants” with babies as an accessory like the chihuahuas trend of a few years ago or something…

I wish Miss Johnson the best of luck in finalizing her adoption and hope that she is truly ready to tackle the ultimate responsibilities of parenting!

- Amy on June 5th, 2007

My personal opinion is that she is doing it to be fashionable. Why else would she look in Cambodia first unless she was doing it to be like Angelina? Everything I have ever heard about this girl is that she is spoiled and parties all the time. The only money she has is family money and does nothing for herself. I have no doubt that this child will be raised by nannies.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but that’s how I feel.

- Layla & Finn's Mommy on June 5th, 2007

I know who she is because she was on the tv, uhh maybe last year, and it was some lame celeb show, and she was on it to show them her house and how many designer bags and shoes she has, and trust me she had a LOT! I was like, what do you need to many shoes for, it was like 200 or something!!?!

- Sophie on June 5th, 2007

Jumping to conclusions! Give her the benefit of the doubt. Regardless of what she appears to be, she is helping a child. I’m applauding her for not being another heiress who’s known for being in clubs all the time, and not being perceived as spending daddy’s money. To say that she veiws an adopted child as “the must have accessory” based on the fact that she’s excited to be buying cute baby clothes is completly unfair- every womasn i’ve ever known who has their first child is excited to be able to buy them cute clothes! She most likely didn’t mean that in a negative way.

- Jordie on June 6th, 2007

It’s nice she’s adopting a baby, but if he’s as spoiled as you say, those kids will probably end up being put away at a boarding school once they get past the cute stage (at what the age of 3 or 4?), and then 25-30 yrs from now write a “Mommy Dearest..”-type book.

Anyway, is it just me or does something about Casey’s face and hair remind one of a young Tammy Faye Bakker? (Still though even Tammy Faye had to actually go through the pains of birth and/or a c-section for her kids, with her son Jay being born whilst her husband was on TV, unlike Casey so far with picking out her kids.)

- Autumn on June 6th, 2007

Out of curiosity, would it be cheaper to adopt in the US? There are plenty of children here who need homes as well.

- Cindy on June 6th, 2007

I never heard of Casey Johnson before coming across an article online about her adopting from Kazakhstan. As a “young” adoptive mother (I was 25 when we adopted our daughter from Kazakhstan), I have to say that it’s not an easy process. If she did indeed go through the mounds of paperwork and 6 1/2 week stay in Kazakhstan required to complete an adoption there, perhaps she is serious about motherhood.

Again, I don’t know much about her but wish any fellow adoptive mom the best. And best of luck to those who are looking into adoption (both international and domestic). I can’t imagine life without my two internationally adopted daughters- I’m thankful for them every day.

-E

- Mama on June 11th, 2007

Casey johnson works as a philanthropist.So it is not shocking she would choose to adopt a child.And she has diabetes so tis may make it difficult 4 her to concieve.We should not b so quick to judge her doesnt every expectant mother like picking out clothes 2 drees their baby in.If anythinhg we should b admiring her she could just sit around living off her families money but she doesnt her job is to give people the help they really need .

- aimee on October 30th, 2007

How can anyone say that she is doing it to be “fashionable.” She nevers mentions why. How judgmental! I am not her ob-gyn, don’t know the nature of her trip to Cambodia,and thus cannot comment on her motivation for adopting–neither can any of you.

The adoption process is expensive because you cannot have a free market for children. Period. There must be extensive investigation into the adoptive parents and child. Don’t you want to ensure that you are adopting from a country where there is minimal risk of human trafficking? Cheap adoptions tend to occur in places where children are frequently kidnapped from their families, and there is illegal trafficking. You are not “helping” a child, simply by adopting him or her if she was kidnapped from his or her family. As difficult as it is for Americans to understand, you are not “saving the world” by raising babies from a different country. There are plenty of capable parents, who happen to also be poor, whose rights should be protected. That is why adoption is so expensive.

- Annie on December 26th, 2007

I just saw a show about milionaires, and Csey Johnson wa son it, debuting her “new” adopted daughter. The girl flinched everytime the flash from the paparazzi went of and kept clinging to her neck and she kept saying “Look here,look here”. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! That child was clearly disturbed by the media, yet she was paraded by her own “mother” ( if you can call her that- I really have a problem with that. After the pictures, the child was handed off and not be seen in her mothers arm again!!!! She definitely adopted because it is “in”. If you truly want to be a mother and adopt, YOU PUT THE CHILD FIRST and definitely not in the spotlight, which was very hard on that poor baby girl!!!!

- Michelle on August 10th, 2008