She may be the GOAT of gymnastics, but to Simone Biles\u2018 parents, she\u2019s just their daughter. Simone\u2019s mother, Nellie Ceytano Biles, and her father, Ronald Biles, aren\u2019t her biological parents, but they\u2019re her mom and dad nonetheless.<\/p>\n
Ronald is Simone\u2019s maternal grandfather and Nellie is his wife, whom he married in 1977. Simone, who was born on March 14, 1997 in Columbus, Ohio, is the third of four siblings. Simone\u2014as well as her siblings, Adria, Ashley and Tevin\u2014were put into foster care when she was 2 or 3 due to their biological mother Shanon\u2019s struggle with alcohol, according to USA Today. \u201cWe were really fortunate because we got to stay with our siblings, which most siblings get separated,\u201d Simone told USA Today in 2021. \u201cWe had a good experience in foster care. So I can\u2019t knock that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simone and her siblings remained in foster care until she was 5 years old. In 2000, Ron and Nellie started temporarily caring for the siblings. Ron told USA Today that he and Nellie decided to foster the kids after a social worker continued to call him to let them know that the siblings were in foster care. Eventually, Ron asked if the kids were allowed to move to Houston to live with him, Nellie and their two sons, Ron Jr. and Adam. \u201cWe\u2019re family,\u201d Ron told USA Today. In 2003, Ron and Nellie adopted Simone and her younger sister, Adria. Ron\u2019s sister and Shanon\u2019s aunt, Harriet, adopted the two eldest children, Ashley and Tevin, who moved back to Ohio. \u201cI was very, very blessed and fortunate,\u201d Simone told USA Today. \u201cI felt love, care. I was healthy. I was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since her time in the foster care system, Simone has helped other foster kids. \u201cI know exactly how it is, and I know exactly how you feel being a foster kid,\u201d she said. \u201cI can be a voice for them. I can help them, and I can tell them that they\u2019re not alone and that it\u2019s going to be OK. That you can also still be great in the world.\u201d
Who is Simone Biles\u2019 father, Ronald?<\/p>\n
So who is Simone Biles\u2019 father, Ronald Biles? Well, Ronald is biologically Simone\u2019s grandfather. He\u2019s the father of Simone\u2019s biological mother, Shanon, and was the one who told Shanon to name her daughter Simone. He\u2019s also her father and legal guardian after he adopted her with his wife, Nellie, in 2003. Before he retired, Ron worked in the Air Force, which is how he met Nellie, who went to college in San Antonio near where Ron worked. After his time in the military, Ron worked as an air traffic controller. Ron, who was a single father to Shanon at the time he met Nellie, married Nellie in 1977. The couple went on to have two sons together: Ron Jr. and Adam.<\/p>\n
As for her biological father, Simone told USA Today that she never knew him and doesn\u2019t have a close relationship with her biological mother either. \u201cI\u2019ve been so fortunate with everything that God has given me and all the tools of life,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I never really cared to find out who my biological father was, or really gain a close relationship with my biological mom. Which I\u2019m sure she probably wanted.\u201d She continued, \u201cBut the cards that I was dealt, I just never felt a need to go back. Which is very different for a lot of (adopted) kids, because they feel kind of that void. But I never did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simone also told USA Today that she likely wouldn\u2019t be an Olympic gymnast if Ron and Nellie hadn\u2019t adopted her. \u201cI definitely wouldn\u2019t have been in gymnastics,\u201d she told the site, noting the time and financial investments the sport costs.
Who is Simone Biles\u2019 mother, Nellie?<\/p>\n
Simone Biles\u2019 mother, Nellie (whose maiden name is Ceytano) is Ron\u2019s wife. She met Ron when she was a nursing student at the University of the Incarnate World in San Antonio. After graduation, she worked as a nurse and co-owned a chain of 14 nursing homes in Texas. In a 2016 interview with Texas Monthly, Simone revealed that, when she and her sister were adopted, Nellie told her that they could continue to call them grandpa and grandma or mom and dad. \u201cI went upstairs and tried practicing it in the mirror\u2014\u2018Mom, Dad, Mom, Dad.\u2019 Then I went downstairs, and she was in the kitchen. I looked up at her and I was like, \u2018Mom?\u2019 She said, \u2018Yes!’\u201d Simone said.<\/p>\n
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