Where Is Simone Biles's Birth Mom? The Gymnastics Icon Was Adopted at Age 6
"It was hard to give up my kids but I had to do what I had to. I wasn’t able to care for them."
Jul. 18 2024, Published 1:01 p.m. ET
As the most decorated gymnast in history, Simone Biles is truly the GOAT.
The Ohio-born icon has been smashing records (she's the only American gymnast to win a world medal on every event) and overcoming major obstacles (she experienced a dangerous psychological phenomenon known as the twisties) — and she's still going strong.
Over the years, Simone — who was adopted at age 6 by her maternal grandfather and his wife — has also thanked her family several times for all their love and support in her incredible journey. But what about her birth parents? Whatever happened to them?
Simone with her adoptive parents Nellie and Ronald Biles in 2021
Where is Simone Biles's birth mom?
Simone was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, to Shanon Biles and Kelvin Clemons, who met as teenagers and were plagued by addiction issues.
Simone and her younger sister Adria were placed in foster care, as were Shanon's two older children Ashley Biles-Thomas and Tevin Biles-Thomas.
When Simone was 6 and Adria was 4, they were both adopted by Shanon's father Ronald along with Ronald's second wife Nellie in Texas. Meanwhile, Ashley and Tevin went to live with their great-aunt (Ronald's sister) and remained in Ohio.
In 2016, amid the Rio Olympics (where Simone ended up taking home four gold medals), the Daily Mail caught up with Shanon, who said that she'd been clean since 2007 and was working as a home health aid. She also had two younger children now and said she got along with their father.
Shanon Biles speaks to TMZ in 2016
Shanon said she and Kelvin (who hasn't been in Simone's life) also stay in touch now and then and are both incredibly proud of Simone.
"[Kelvin] just called me Sunday. I said, 'I’m watching Simone, are you watching her? Are you watching her? Call me back later.' ... He knows that’s his daughter and he’s very proud of her," Shanon said.
Shanon said that after initially placing Simone and her siblings up for adoption, she didn't get to see her kids for six years.
"It took me six years before I saw my children again. I was respecting my dad to let the kids transition; he felt that was the best thing for them," Shanon said, adding: "It was hard to give up my kids but I had to do what I had to; I wasn’t able to care for them ... I was still using and he didn’t want me coming in and out of their lives when I wasn’t right."
Shanon said she came to understand why her dad did what he did, and that she needed to work on herself first.
She also said that in recent years, she and Simone had been speaking briefly, but never getting into anything too personal. However, Shanon said she hoped to one day explain that dark period of her life to her daughter.