Joely Fisher Introduces Daughter Olivia Luna

As a mom to daughters Skylar Grace, 7, and True Harlow, 2 ½, stepsons Cameron, 24, and Colin, 22, and two dogs, Joely Fisher has a lot on her plate. But the ‘Til Death actress, 41, knew her heart had room to grow, and it did when she adopted baby Olivia Luna in September. Inspired by a trip she took to Mozambique in July with Save the Children, Joely tells PEOPLE that she knew she wanted to adopt, but "didn’t really know how [I] would go about it."

Though the thought of adopting from Africa crossed her mind, Joely says, "Once I was there, I felt the people I met wanted me to help them sustain their lives in their own country." So upon her return, she and her husband, cinematographer Christopher Duddy, 47, decided on private, domestic adoption and submitted their paperwork, hoping for the best.

Meredith Jenks for People for use on CBB

Click ‘More’ to read how Joely and Olivia met, and for additional pictures of the family!

Meredith Jenks for People for use on CBB

Miraculously, two weeks later, the couple received a call from their adoption agency. A local, unwed teenage mother had given birth the day before, and she wanted to speak with Joely. Upon meeting Olivia’s birth mother, Joely says she put her arms around her "and told her how brave she was." Once the adoption was finalized, just days later, Joely and Christopher welcomed their new baby girl into their home.

Meredith Jenks for People for use on CBB

Of Christopher’s dedication to her dream, Joely says lovingly, "He was on board. It made me look at him in a different way." The actress, who has "always wanted this amazing brood," says she wasn’t fazed by adopting a child of a different race. "I had no preference; I felt we belonged together," she tells PEOPLE. "When I found out it was a girl, I was happy. She’ll grow up with two loving sisters and spectacular hand-me-downs."

For now, the newborn — who "loves her baths and is a great eater" — is adjusting to life with her family and settling into her champagne-colored nursery. As for her life? Joely shares she couldn’t be happier. "It’s chaos around here. But I love watching pieces of my heart running around the house. This is a dream come true."

‘Til Death airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on FOX.

Source: PEOPLE, November 24 issue

Click here for yesterday’s cutie!

Comments

What a cute baby! It’s nice to hear the story behind it, and it seems like little Olivia Luna is now apart of a wonderful family!

- Jane on November 13th, 2008

What a cutie-pie! I also love that one of the dogs was included in the family photo!

- CelebBabyLover on November 13th, 2008

Congrats! What a beautiful family. She is gorgeous:) They are all gorgeous and good looking.

- mary on November 13th, 2008

OMG, could that baby be any cuter! Congrats to the entire family. I love those chubby cheeks!

- Tonia on November 13th, 2008

Ohh my goodness, she is so cute…what a little sweetheart! Aww!

- jasmine on November 13th, 2008

how precious is she!! omg lookit those cheeks! so cute

Congrats to them!

- ERICKA on November 13th, 2008

I love love love that the older boys are included in that family picture. It doesn’t happen often that the grown children from a previous relationship are included. Especially when they are the fathers. It’s nice to see.

- briana on November 13th, 2008

OMG she’s so adorable!!! She’s just a precious little girl because she’s melting my heart away!

- J.J. on November 13th, 2008

OMG….what a pumpkin!!!! She is absolutely darling!

- Brooke on November 14th, 2008

wow, what a gorgeous baby! those cheeks rival Nell Burton’s!

- Abbey on November 14th, 2008

Aww shes so cute & that family portrait is lovely! I was wondering i know it says the adoption was finalized in september so i was wondering if thats when she was born?

—

Yes, she was born in September, but they are keeping the exact date private.

- CBB Staff

- Kelly on November 14th, 2008

OMG..I love that baby.

- P on November 14th, 2008

What a beautiful family. I wish them well and am looking forward to watching them grow!

- Jess from Ohio on November 14th, 2008

Gorgeous baby! And Olivia Luna is such a wonderful name.

- Elizabeth on November 14th, 2008

aaaack, so..cute..*flails arms*

i adore her middle name, too

- M on November 14th, 2008

She is a cutie! I love those chubby cheeks. Joely must have the urge to squeeze them all day long!

- Stephany on November 14th, 2008

Gosh, she looks like a little doll.

- Kresta on November 14th, 2008

Joely’s sons are quite handsome! But the family photos are great, as are the ones of just Joely and Olivia. I can already see the love in Joely’s eyes in almost every picture bar for the one where the family is being goofy, and, just like a baby, Olivia sleeps right through the chaotic fun.

But I love how she mentioned watching “pieces of her heart” run around the house. That’s beautiful.

I just can’t get over Olivia’s cheeks or those tiny little feet. So adorable!

- FC on November 14th, 2008

Gorgeous baby! and i love the family pic

- cassie on November 14th, 2008

do people think Africa is the only place to adopt from?… what about children in South Amaerica, or Asia, or the Middle East and India… what about kids in the rest of the world…

- StanJoukIsHot on November 14th, 2008

How lovely is that baby girl?! She is just too sweet! I love the family pic! You can just feel what a fun and close family they are. What a lucky little girl Olivia is to join this family, and what a lucky family this is to welcome little Olivia.

- CTBmom on November 14th, 2008

What a lovely family ! this is a good thing they adopted this little girl. They have all my admiration for that. My parents adopted my sister two years ago so I feel concerned about that. Giving a child the opportunity to be happy is such a beautiful experience!!

- Angélique on November 14th, 2008

Stan, she didn’t adopt from Africa. She adopted from the United States. Also, depending on the country, I’ve found that many African countries (as compared to countries in South America where we’ve been considering) have shorter times you have to stay in the country. That could be a consideration. In Brasil, both my husband and I would have to live there a month, as opposed to 2 weeks. We still plan on adopting from Brasil, since that’s where my family is from, but I have no idea how we’re going to make it work b/c his office only offers 2 week paternity leave…

- MB on November 14th, 2008

She’s adorable!

- Crystal on November 14th, 2008

What a wonderful article and I love all of the pictures, especially the family one. That baby is a little doll!

- Michelle on November 14th, 2008

The baby is so cute!!!! The last picture is gourgeous. And what a lovely family! I wish them all the best!

- Ana Silva on November 14th, 2008

Well, StanJoukIsHot, you raise a good point about other children needing help. Here’s hoping you’re doing YOUR part.

- Gianna on November 14th, 2008

I love that she chose domestic adoption. I sometimes am saddened that so many choose to adopt out of the country when we have so many kids here that need loving homes. This is no slight to those who go out of the country. I understand it can be a smoother transition when you go out of the country. And our children are our children wherever they may come from. Personally though, I am planning to adopt and it will be from my backyard. Congrats to the family!

- madylane on November 14th, 2008

Yeah Stan, Lord knows no one has ever adopted children from Asia or South America in the past 30 years. Seriously, you should really read up on international adoption statistics before asking such questions.

- dee on November 14th, 2008

I get the feeling she made the Africa comment because she said her trip to Mozambique inspired her to adopt. I don’t think she meant to favor one continent over the other! Regardless, the little girl is gorgeous and the family is so lucky to have found her.

- Lucy on November 14th, 2008

Awwwww! She is SO cute! What a lovely addition to a beautiful family. Congratulations on your newest addition, Joely.

- Hayley_B on November 14th, 2008

Stan it is becoming easier to adopt children from Africa than from countries in South America. Not only do you wait less for the paper work to be done, but in South America there has been an increase in the thefts of children from their unsuspecting moms and sold to orphanages for money. Thus the legal system in many South American countries have made it quit difficult to adopt from there.

Now as for Asia, well I remember a time where having a child from china was the IN thing. Many celebs wanted to adopt from asian countries rather than children from our own back yards. I didn’t understand that. What made Africa the new thing I guess was all of the Save the children specials and Celebs like Angelina and Madonna adopting from there. My only happy thought is that atleast people are adopting unfortunante little angels who would have had a worse life.

Luna is a very beautiful baby and I wish her the best.

- An on November 14th, 2008

MB –can’t your husband save his vacation time and use it then? It’s what my husband (and all our friends) did when our kids were born (luckily we have a month of paternity leave here + 4 weeks of vacation).

- Sanja on November 14th, 2008

1. i love the comment she made abt the ppl of mozambique… she said, she was thinking abt adopting from there, but instead found that the ppl were more interested in receiving help to rebuild their OWN infrastructure… i think ppl think that all the Africans are just waiting for ppl to come and take them out of their misery… but Africa is a beautiful continent full of countries of BEAUTIFUL ppl, who really need help in restructuring… i don’t think they all want to come to America or Europe and be “saved” per se

2. i am going to be a bit hypocritical… i usually rag on you guys for talking abt a persons choice in naming their kid… but Luna, i’m assuming it means something having to do w/ the moon, which connotes darkness, and being that this is an African American daughter in a white family something abt that kind of rubs me the wrong way… not like she’s a racist, but… more like… HUNH…

but i cld very well be doing “too much”

4. i love that ppl like russell and justine simmons and christopher duddy and joely fisher are showing that if you want a baby, and aren’t so interested in having a “designer” baby, you CAN adopt domestically… i LOVE that… w/in two of applying joely had an interview w/ a mother…

and i love that… it gives me hope that when i choose to adopt my subsequent children i can have a good and easy experience, but i’m slowly but surely learning that just like every pregnancy is different, every adoption experience is different as well…

loves it!!!!

- fay on November 14th, 2008

Olivia is such a cherub!! So beautiful. Congrats to the Fisher/Duddy family.I know Skylar and True are going to be great big sisters.

- Onyx Jones on November 14th, 2008

I love to see families open up their house, hearts and minds and adopt children. I wish nothing but the best for them. God Bless!

- Kaylee on November 14th, 2008

Stan, obviously you didn’t read the article. When you comment without reading it just makes you look silly.

Olivia is beautiful and I too love the family pic with the boys and the dog! Gorgeous family.

- Brandi on November 14th, 2008

What and adorable baby! She has the most precious face. I am so glad she found her way into this wonderful family!

- Elyse on November 14th, 2008

Gorgeous family – gorgeous baby! Thrilled to only see one comment about domestic adoptions being preferable to foreign adoptions! Children are children and any child without a home deserves one.

- brannon on November 14th, 2008

I love that family shot. It really should be their Holiday card hahahahah

- Ashleigh on November 14th, 2008

What a truly blessed family. That little girl is too adorable.

An, I agree certain countries make it harder than others to adopt. My best friend and her hubby did all the paperwork for a newborn from Guatamala since 06! They just got their son last month who will already turn 2 in December! It was a very long process. We almost thought it was not going to happen. The government from Guatamala got really tough with foreigners wanting to adopt from their country. Many babies had been stolen or poor mothers were tricked in giving up their babies. Thankfully my best friend’s son’s adoption was done legally and they finally have their son! I am truly happy for them. After 14 years of not being able to have children, they now have their precious boy!

- Rachel on November 14th, 2008

Oh that baby makes me want to run out and get pregnant lol She is the most beautiful thing!!!

God bless Joely, and her whole family!! and also God bless that teenage mother for given her daughter a chance to be healthy, happy and taken care of and for given Joely the chance to love this little angel!!

I love the name Olivia Luna!! That family picture is the best!

- Bren on November 14th, 2008

she is a cutie and her name is adorable.

but i can’t get over how hot her stepsons are lol

- brandi c. on November 14th, 2008

Sanja I didn’t even think of that! I will have to have him look into whether he can use his days off in a big chunk like that. Thanks We’re also looking into independent adoption (if it’s legal there) to try to bypass the residency requirement that is required with the orphanages.

- MB on November 14th, 2008

She is a cute…and the whole family is just gorgeous. I do have one question though…about the adoption. It’s not about the whole international/domestic dispute. I was reading up on adoption (here in the U.S. – not internationally) and most things state that it takes about a year from starting to fill out paper work to being eligible/have placement of a child. I don’t people whining that she has money and she can cut strings….as I’m not asking about that either. I am genuinely interested in how it was only a couple months for her…because I am interested in adopting 3 siblings myself. I have read a lot of stuff online…but wondering why I am getting very different time lengths. Any ideas how she did the paperwork, got approved, did all the legal stuff, etc in just a couple months??? Thanks for any insight

- Jennifer on November 14th, 2008

Joely seems like an amazing woman… but whenever I see black kids adopted by white families or vice versa it makes me wonder if the kid will have any type of identitiy crisis later on… Hopefully not. I hope everything will be just as they imagined it!

- Jane on November 14th, 2008

Jennifer, I’m no expert but if Joely and her husband went the private adoption route, that can be very quick depending on the situation. I think that if they found the birth mother through private means, the whole process can happen in a very short amount of time.

And Jane, as long as the Duddy/Fisher family is open and honest with Olivia about her heritage and encourage dialogue, she should be just fine

- Sarah on November 14th, 2008

Jane, I think anyone that is adopted and who never met their birth parents has an idenity crisis no matter what color they are. I noticed more often then not, people who adopt children of another race seem to be more appreciative of their differences and more likely to teach the child to embrace their heritage. Glad Joely and her family did it.

- Dannie on November 14th, 2008

Lots of people choose international adoption becuase it’s pretty much guaranteed to get a baby when your turn comes. With domestic adoption, unless you adopt an older child, you have to wait till (if) you are chosen.

Also, where I live, not one agency does the south america.

Bottom line, everyone can choose the country they want to adopt from. We’re adopting from China and everyone tells me that we should adopt from here and there (depending on what country they like) Noone really accepts that we like China and that we are the ones who are adopting. So if she chose domestic adoption, kudos to her and to all other paretns.

- Molly on November 14th, 2008

Olivia is a doll. With the adoption, I am glad she atleast stayed close to home. as for the critics. everyone is not able to parent a child from a diffent country and culture. I havent once seen angelina dress zahara in ethiopian clothes or pax in asian clothes but thats her parenting style. Wyclef Jean has an adopted daughter from the same country his parents migrated from. So those saying celebs should adopt from this place or the next should adopt more from their home or parents country and culture. And stop gettin mad a celebs.

- starbear on November 14th, 2008

Olivia looks like a little doll in the last picture…also, agree that the sons are very handsome! Beautiful family.

- SY on November 14th, 2008

There’s also something a lot of people forget – orphans in other countries are much more likely to get sick and end up dying. The mortality rate for children under five in third world countries – even children with families – is astounding. It may sound callous, but kids here in the US aren’t going to get TB or any of these other diseases that kill children in Africa. Add to that, even if they should fall ill, the state they live in can pay for their medicine.

I think adoption is a wonderful thing no matter where you adopt from, but there are so many different factors on both sides no one ever really thinks about!

- Nicole on November 14th, 2008

What a dumpling! She’s so alert for such a young age. Love those little toes:)

- Xan on November 14th, 2008

Joely Fisher’s new daughter is very cute.

- Jon on November 14th, 2008

Good for Joely on knowing how special a birth mother is and how difficult her decision can be. Many times people adopt and never get to know the woman who blessed them with the greatest gift ever and Joely not only was able to meet her, but to thank her and reinforce how brave she was to make the choice she did. Good for both of them!
P.S.–Can I just say that little Olivia has some of the most kissable cheeks ever? How precious!!!!

- Jen on November 14th, 2008

Well if the process is anything closer to the one in Canada, the parents would have to go through homestudy. That takes few months. And it’s unlikely, that an agency starts offering families to birth mothers unless all the paperwork is completed. So it looks like either the agency she went through is not very organized and reputable, or Joely really jumped through some hoops because of her celebrity status.

First i thought that maybe she found someone herself, in those cases you can actually do homestudy after the baby is placed to your home, but after i re-read the article, it more sounds like the birth mother chose her from the list of other prospective mothers and Joely wouldnt be able to get on that list so quickly after her trip.

- Nikka on November 15th, 2008

It was probably a private adoption. As soon as the homestudy is done, at any time you could get a call from a potential birth mom, could be days, weeks, or even years. The homestudy doesn’t take very long…if my memory serves me right (we adopted in 2004) it took less than 2 months to complete our homestudy.

- paula on November 15th, 2008

She is adorable

And I agree, the older sons are quite good looking.

congrats to the new addition!

I love the 2nd and 3rd pic.

- Mia on November 15th, 2008

This is just my take on it, but in the first picture, it looks to me as if Olivia is intently trying to convey something. Like she has a mission and knows it. I’m also biased toward her because my daughter’s name is Olivia.

Finally, I love seeing Cameron & Colin in the photo. Everyone looks loving & happy.

- mp on November 15th, 2008

Congratulations to Ms.Fisher and her family, they seem like great people, and you can see how happy they are to have such a beautiful baby girl, she is adorable!!!

- ana on November 15th, 2008

The Jannuzzi Clothing Green Tank with Hot PInk Heart surrounded by Crystals and Hot Pink Ruffle Shoulders looks absolutely adorable on Olivia!!!

- Rose Jannuzzi on November 16th, 2008

That baby has a beautiful face, she looks like a real doll, like the once in QVC or something. God bless them all.

- tina on November 16th, 2008

It’s good that she’s Fisher-Duddy or else her initials would be OLD

- Rebecca on November 26th, 2008

That babygirl is so cute, she’s just adorable! I also love the whole story behind the adoption.. I think they did something beautiful by adopting the baby.
I’m also very in love with the name they gave their babygirl.. Olivia Luna, what a very nice name!
The family picture is just perfect

- Neeka on December 3rd, 2008