David Foster Gave up His 1st Child for Adoption Believing They Would Reunite in the Future

Today, David Foster is a father of six, but his eldest daughter was never in the star's life. He gave her up for adoption, hoping they would reunite in the future. Thirty years later, they met again.

David Foster is a Hollywood icon. He boasts of a career in music and film, with his most recognized works in film including "St. Elmo's Fire," "The Secret of my Success," and "The Bodyguard," among many others.

The 16-time Grammy Award winner's private life has been nothing as glitzy as his career. Foster has been through it all, from the drama in his love life to troubles with paternity.

Being a celebrity, it was inevitable that his children would be in the limelight from a young age. However, one of them never got to experience that life after he gave her up for adoption. Read on to meet the child he once abandoned.

PEEK INSIDE HIS FOUR FAILED MARRIAGES

In his 2019 film "Off The Record," the singer described himself as a "runner." As soon as he faced any challenges in a relationship, he tended to end it. He always looked out for the newest shiny thing and moved on from his problems.

It thus comes as no surprise that Foster has been married five times, with four of those ending in divorce. His first marriage was to BJ Cook, from 1972 to June 26, 1981. The couple had one child together.

While there's not much information about Cook, it is clear that she was a talented music composer with several songs to her name, including Bill Champlin's "Single," Tina Arena's "Strong as Steel," and Bigg Tyme's "The Day After Hell Broke Loose."

After his divorce in 1981, Foster moved on and found love in the arms of Rebecca Dyer. On October 27, 1982, the two got married and had three children together.

While not much public information is available about Rebecca, according to Rolling Stone, Foster left her with their three children — the youngest being seven months old — and took off with another woman in 1986.

Foster then married his third wife, Linda Thompson, on June 27, 1991, but the marriage ended in divorce on July 11, 2005. However, trouble had started brewing long before they decided to call it quits. Foster shares in his book "Hitman" that by 2002, their marriage was in big trouble.

They were both in denial about their problems and often faked a perfect union. While they did not have any biological kids, they were a blended family, with Thompson's boys, Brandon and Brody, from a previous marriage and Foster's girls Sara, Erin, and Jordan from his other marriage.

Foster says he had to fight for Thompson's attention, as her sons and seven dogs always came first for her. That, coupled with a non-existing relationship between Thompson and Foster's three kids, broke the camel's back, and in July 2005, they got divorced.

A third time was not a charm for Foster, but he was lucky enough to find love again six years later. He met his fourth wife, Yolanda Hadid, through Hadid's ex-husband. Despite falling in love shortly after meeting, they decided to take things slow.

The lovebirds dated for four years before Foster dropped down on one knee and finally popped the question on Christmas Eve in 2010. They were a seemingly happy couple for the first years of the union.

However, devastating news soon rocked the family after Hadid was diagnosed with chronic neurological Lyme disease in 2012. Juggling between Foster's busy schedule, Hadid's commitment to "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," and her illness was not an easy fit, and soon the marriage started showing cracks.

They eventually announced that they were divorcing in 2015, with fans speculating that Hadid's illness was why they split. In his documentary "David Foster: Off The Record," Foster says he did not leave because she was sick. However, he was unwilling to share the reason behind the divorce, saying, as US Weekly reports:

"It was for a different reason, which I will never disclose, but it had nothing to do with her being sick."

MAJOR FATHERHOOD PROBLEMS

Foster has admitted to running away from his marriage, but it is a no-brainer that his actions greatly affected his children. Even though they now share a close relationship, it was not always that way. Let's meet the Foster children.

With his first wife, Cook, Foster welcomed daughter Amy in 1973. He then had daughters Sara, Erin, and Jordan with his second wife, Rebecca. After marrying his third wife, Thompson, it became apparent that he would be a stepfather to her two sons.

However, that was treacherous ground because Foster often had trouble with the boys. Thompson also never got along with any of Foster's three daughters. Growing up, Sara and Erin understood that he was away from home working to provide them a good life.

But they also held resentment towards him because he was out raising other children who were not biologically his. Erin explained according to People:

"We never lived with our dad after our parents broke up. So from the ages of 3 and 5, we lived with our mom, and our dad was living in this $20 million house with Brandon and Brody. It had the trolley. It had the pool."

GIVING UP HIS FIRST CHILD

While Foster's private life is a headline hitter for many publications, some part of it remains unknown to many. Long before he became a music icon and married his first wife, he was in a relationship with a 20-year old girl who bore him a daughter.

Since the mother could not care for the child, they put her up for adoption. However, in 2000, Foster got a call from a woman that claimed to be his long-lost daughter. Foster shared:

"I don't think I was shocked, to be honest. I think I had been expecting that phone call for thirty years. Every child wants to know his or her parents, so I always suspected it would only be a matter of time."

The caller turned out to be Allison, the daughter he'd given up for adoption more than 30 years earlier. She lived in Edmonton, was married, and had two children. Father and daughter were incredibly curious about each other.

Allison had heard from a cousin that she was the daughter of a famous Canadian musician and began her search. When she saw a photo of Foster, the resemblance was so uncanny there was no denying that he was her father. She then tracked him down through his foundation.

As fate would have it, Foster had business in Edmonton not long after with the hockey player Wayne Gretzky. He had learned that Allison and her husband were huge hockey fans and decided he would give his daughter a tremendous gift when they met.

They met at a hotel in Edmonton where Foster was staying, and after the introductions, Foster said Allison had decades of stories to share. He then called Gretzky, who was also staying at the same hotel, and asked him to come to his room.

Gretzky showed up a few minutes later, and Allison's head was spinning. She was finally meeting her father and her hockey idol for the first time, all on the same day. Foster jokes:

"I think she was actually a little more excited about meeting Wayne."

WHERE IS ALLISON NOW

Today, Allison and her family are a big part of Foster's life. According to his book, Allison remains in Edmonton with her family and is an executive for a computer company.

With an MBA from McMaster University, Allison has worked with Fortune 500 companies in sales, business development, and product management. She also holds the position of Secretary to the Board, Director, Business and Stakeholder Relations in Foster's foundation.

DAVID'S 5TH ATTEMPT AT MARRIAGE

Foster and "American Idol" alum Katherine McPhee were friends for years before becoming an item. In fact, in 2008, Foster played the piano at McPhee and Nick Cokas's wedding.

But in 2017, as Foster was finalizing his divorce from Hadid, and McPhee had also just come out of a two-year relationship with "Scorpion" costar Elyes Gabel, they started getting cozy.

Less than a year later, they got engaged while vacationing on the Italian island of Capri, and on June 28, 2019, they walked down the aisle in London. And while the couple adores and gushes about each other every time they speak, their massive age gap is a subject of criticism for many.

Foster and McPhee are 35 years apart in age, and McPhee admits that she was initially skittish about the attention their ages brought them. However, she has since embraced her life and enjoys being married to Foster. She shared:

"I totally get the judgment initially, but things are never as they appear, things are never exactly as they appear, and I'm in love with our love story, and that's all that matters."

McPhee first sparked pregnancy rumors in October 2020 when she showed off her baby bump. In February 2021, Foster, 71, and McPhee became parents to a baby boy named Rennie David Foster.