A Timeline Of Hugh Jackman And Deborra-Lee Furness’ Relationship From Beginning To End

As Deborra-Lee Furness was 40 when she and Hugh Jackman married, the couple immediately set about growing their family. “We struggled, a couple miscarriages, IVF — it’s not easy, particularly on Deb,” Jackman told People. The couple decided to pursue adoption, moving through the process in a way that may have been unconventional for some but worked for them. 

They adopted their first child, Oscar, in 2000 from a young woman who flew out from Iowa and ended up staying with them in Los Angeles until she gave birth. Furness shared what it was like being the parent of a mixed-race child with People, saying, “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.” 

In 2005, the couple welcomed a second child, daughter Ava, via adoption and completed their family. Continuing their quest to embrace their children’s cultural backgrounds, they have also gone to great lengths to honor her Mexican lineage. “What I’m very interested in is epigenetics, and it’s even more so when you have adopted children because I’m coming from my lineage of my mother, how she parented me, how her mother parented her, and I’m translating that to my children,” Furness told People.