Millie Bobby Brown Shares Rare Thoughts on Adopting a Baby with Jake Bongiovi
Millie Bobby Brown has opened up for the first time after officially announcing the adoption of a baby girl with her husband Jake Bongiovi.
During a game with TIME and her Stranger Things castmates on Thursday, October 16, Brown, 21, shared that her daughter is the one thing she can’t live without, after Noah Schnapp mistakenly guessed Bongiovi, 23, as the answer.
“But it’s the same thing,” Brown admitted. “Without her, there’s no him. It’s the same thing.”
The couple announced on social media in August that they welcomed a baby girl through adoption.
“This summer, we welcomed our sweet baby girl through adoption,” Brown and Bongiovi wrote in a joint Instagram statement. “We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy. And then there were 3. Love, Millie and Jake Bongiovi.”
The Stranger Things star, who married Bongiovi in May 2024, previously expressed her eagerness to start a family with him.
“My mom had her first child at 21, and my dad was 19,” she shared on an episode of the “Smartless” podcast in March. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a child, playing with baby dolls. I wanted to be a mom just like my mom was to me.”
Brown mentioned that Bongiovi “understands the importance” of becoming parents soon.
“I want to focus on establishing myself as an actor and producer, but for me, starting a family is equally important,” she said at the time. “It’s a significant thing. Jake was adamant that we should wait until we were married.”
With both coming from large families, Brown expressed her desire to have a “big family.”
“I’m one of four, and he’s one of four, so a big family is definitely in our future. To me, I don’t see having my own child as any different from adopting,” she noted, adding that she would be thrilled to welcome a baby in any way. “Our home is filled with love, and our energy as a couple is welcoming; we want everyone to feel comfortable here.”
Brown and Bongiovi secretly married in May 2024 after dating for two years.
“It was a very intimate and romantic ceremony with their closest family present as they exchanged their vows,” The Sun reported.
Later that year, the couple held a second wedding celebration in Italy.
The actress and Bongiovi — son of Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea Hurley — began their relationship in the summer of 2021 and announced their engagement in April 2023.
“As soon as we spoke, I knew he would play a significant role in my life. After we met, we realized we never wanted to be apart,” Brown shared with The Sunday Times in August 2023, admitting it’s hard to “pinpoint” when she realized Bongiovi was the one, but she had no doubts. “It’s just the feeling of knowing that he’s the person you want to spend your life with.”
