NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness are separating in a cordial manner.
The couple who have been married for 27 years share two children, Oscar, 23 and Ava, 18.
Do Hugh Jackman Deborra-Lee share biological children?
Deborra-Lee had struggled with miscarriages and failed IVF. After years of struggle, they then chose to adopt children to become parents.
"To be clear, Deb and I always wanted to adopt. So that was always in our plan," Jackman once said in 2012.
Opening up on the IVF struggle he explained, "We didn't know where in the process that would happen but biologically obviously we tried."
He added, "It was not happening for us and it is a difficult time. We did IVF and Deb had a couple of miscarriages. I'll never forget, the miscarriage thing -- it happens to one in three pregnancies, but it's very, very rarely talked about."
How Did Oscar and Ava change Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee's lives?
Following Oscar Maximilian Jackman and Ava Eliot Jackman's birth and adoption, Jackman said, "All the heartache just melted away."
Oscar Maximilian Jackman, born in May 2000, became their first child in 2000 and in 2005 Ava, their daughter was adopted.
"My kids have so many advantages," Jackman told People in 2018. He continued, "And I want them to know that they have a responsibility to use those advantages to help others."
He added, "My kids are constantly reminded about how lucky we are in our family. We're ridiculously blessed. We live in a beautiful home in places that other people dream of."
The parents raised their children away from the public eye. They have rarely shared their pictures and haven't brought them along to public events.
How did Hugh Jackman and Deborra-lee Furness honour their children's heritage?
"When my son was younger, he found out he was part Bosnian, so we went and got this Croatian/Bosnian cookbook and he was very proud to carry that around when he was 7 years old," Furness told People in 2020.
Jackman also shared how pressurised his son felt when growing up according to him. "There is a normalcy that I was used to [growing up] that they're not," the actor said back in 2006.
When Ava was born and brought home Jackman said, "it's a different dynamic having a girl, but both are wonderful and I'm so blessed to have a beautiful boy and girl."
