This Girl Was Given Up at Birth & Handed to a Family That Never Planned to Adopt—Now, She’s a Successful TV Star

On-screen, she dazzled audiences with her charm, talent, and seemingly perfect life. But off-screen, her journey began with something few would ever guess—a baby no one had planned to keep. Before she became a beloved TV star, she was given up at birth by parents who couldn’t raise her and was placed with a family that never intended to adopt. Growing up, she clung to a comforting story—one of brilliant, accomplished birth parents who had made the painful choice out of love and circumstance. But as she grew older, she began to uncover the truth behind her origins—one that would shape her in ways she never expected.

But as she later revealed in her candid memoir, the truth was far more complicated. Beneath the comforting story she had grown up believing lay a reality woven with family secrets, deep struggles, and lingering questions about her true origins.

On May 8, 1964, in a now-shuttered hospital in downtown Los Angeles, she was given a temporary name. She later recalled, “My name at birth was Baby Girl Darlington.” It wasn’t until years later that she uncovered the identities of her biological parents—David Darlington and Cathy Wood.

During her early years, she grew up believing a carefully crafted version of her origins. She had been told that she was the daughter of a prima ballerina and a Rhodes Scholar—two brilliant individuals who loved her deeply but simply couldn’t keep her. “I always knew I was adopted,” she wrote in her memoir, Prairie Tale. But what she didn’t know was how much of her story had been shaped by half-truths and hidden realities.

But adulthood brought the truth: her mother, though indeed a dancer, was not a famed ballerina, and her father was not a scholar, but a sign painter and stock car racer.

“They had both been married to other people. They each had three children. They ran off together, got pregnant, moved in together with their six children, and decided they couldn’t afford a seventh. So they gave me up for adoption,” she shared.

Her adoption story was as unexpected as her birth. Just 24 hours after she was born, she was taken in by Paul Gilbert and Barbara Crane-Gilbert. It was they who eventually gave her the name the world would come to know. The lives of her adoptive parents were very different from those of her biological parents.

Paul had an eclectic career in entertainment. He performed as a young aerialist with a family circus before a fall from a trapeze ended that chapter. Reinventing himself, he joined the Army Air Corps during World War II and later became a skilled comedian, musician, and actor.

He appeared on early TV shows, performed on “The Ed Sullivan Show” playing the French horn, tap-danced, sang, and even incorporated acrobatics into his act — once famously tripping on his way to the microphone, flipping mid-air, landing on his back, and getting up to continue the show.

He co-starred in films like “So This Is Paris” (1955) and headlined nightclub acts where he showcased his range, from singing and dancing to juggling and playing multiple instruments. In his forties, he produced a film titled “3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt,” a quirky comedy about three eccentrics.

Barbara, meanwhile, was raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn, by Harry Crane — a struggling comic and artist — and his wife, Julia. She set her sights on acting early, moving to Los Angeles at eighteen to pursue a career. There, she lived at the famed Studio Club, worked in salons, and acted in films like “Sorority Girl” and “Unwed Mothers.”

In her early twenties, Barbara was even briefly engaged to comedian Don Rickles — before meeting Paul, who swept her off her feet and married her in Houston.

Decades later, during a family gathering shortly after her stepfather’s death, the actress’s godmother Mitzi began recounting the day her adoptive parents brought her home from the hospital. Laughter filled the room — until Barbara suddenly interrupted with a candid admission, “Well, imagine what a shock it was for me!”

Everyone turned toward her and her mom, surprised. Barbara said, “We weren’t even looking…Then I got a phone call that there was a baby available and did I want it?” She turned toward her daughter. “I called your dad. He was on the road and he said, ‘Yes, that’s the one. Go get it.'”

Surprised, she responded to her mom, “It? You keep referring to me as an ‘it.'” Her mother added, “Well, actually, you weren’t even born yet.”

But even as she adjusted to life in a bustling show-business household, there was an invisible challenge simmering beneath the surface — one that no one around her could see, and one she couldn’t explain.

Growing Up with a Disability

The actress revealed she has misophonia, a neurological condition that causes extreme emotional reactions to everyday sounds. Filming scenes on set — especially in classroom settings filled with other children — often felt unbearable.

“If any of the kids chewed gum or ate or tapped their fingernails on the table, I would want to run away so badly,” she recalled in an interview. “I would turn beet red and my eyes would fill up with tears and I’d just sit there feeling absolutely miserable and horribly guilty for feeling so hateful towards all these people — people I loved.”

For years, she carried this invisible burden without knowing there was a name for it. Only recently did she reach out to Duke University’s Center for Misophonia, finally discovering that help was available. “I wrote in just randomly and said, ‘I need help. Please help me,'” she said. She later underwent 16 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy.

While she silently wrestled with the sounds that unsettled her, another, far deeper silence loomed within her family — one that would remain unspoken for decades.

Learning the Truth About Her Father

As a child, the actress was told her father had died of a stroke when she was just 11 years old. But well into adulthood, she uncovered a hidden truth that reshaped everything she thought she knew.

“I was 45 when I found out that my father had taken his own life,” she shared in a television interview. “That was a very deeply hidden secret from pretty much everybody in my life.”

Years later, on the anniversary of his passing, she reflected publicly on how that discovery forced her to confront a new, profound grief. Reaching the same age her father was when he died brought a fresh wave of melancholy. Instead of letting grief define her, she chooses to remember him with kindness and understanding.

But while her personal life held painful truths, the world knew her for something entirely different — her unforgettable performances on screen.

Career Highlights: From Child Star to Acclaimed Actress

The world, of course, came to know as Melissa Gilbert. She rose to stardom as Laura Ingalls on the classic television series “Little House on the Prairie,” which ran from 1974 to 1983. She reprised her role in the 1984 TV movie “Little House: Bless All the Dear Children.”

By the time “Little House” and its spinoffs concluded, she was only 19 years old, already having earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work and an Emmy nod for portraying Helen Keller in the 1979 adaptation of “The Miracle Worker.”

Her career continued well beyond her childhood fame. Melissa went on to star in numerous television movies, including “The Christmas Pageant” (2011) and “When We Last Spoke” (2019), and appeared in popular series such as “7th Heaven” (2005), “Secrets and Lies” (2015), and “The Night Shift” (2015).

Yet despite her success, life in the spotlight came with its own challenges. “As a kid actor I twisted myself into being what anybody wanted me to be at any given time,” she admitted. “And that created a lot of mental and emotional anguish for me. I never really allowed myself to be my authentic self.”

Eventually, Melissa chose to leave behind Hollywood’s fast pace in favor of something far more grounded.

She Now Lives a Quiet Farm Life & Runs a New Venture

In recent years, Melissa has embraced a quieter, more grounded life on a 14-acre farm in Sullivan County, New York. Nestled in the Catskill Mountains, she shares her home with her husband, Emmy Award-winning actor and director Timothy Busfield, whom she married in 2013.

Their life together is refreshingly hands-on. Melissa spends her days gardening, tending to the property, and caring for their animals. Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning in 2020, she described the realities of farm life: “It’s very rustic. Just look at my hands — I have blisters from shoveling, and there’s dirt everywhere constantly. I’ve just given up.”

She affectionately refers to their home as “our little house in the Catskills,” a playful nod to her most famous role. The couple enjoys growing their own food, keeping a flourishing garden, and raising chickens. Recently, they even welcomed a new puppy named Chicago.

Between them, Melissa and Timothy share eight grandchildren. She also has two sons—Dakota, from her marriage to Bo Brinkman, and Michael, from her marriage to Bruce Boxleitner. Today, she finds happiness in the family-focused life they’ve built, far removed from Hollywood’s pressures.

This simpler lifestyle has allowed Melissa to focus on what truly matters. Reflecting on her years filming Little House on the Prairie, she credits the show with instilling values that have stayed with her long after the cameras stopped rolling.

“I absorbed so much without even realizing it—really important life lessons about family, community, and tolerance,” she once shared. In a 2022 interview, she summed up her contentment with life in the mountains: “This is what I’ve always wanted.”

Along with her move to the Catskills, Melissa also reassessed her relationship with aging. For years, she had turned to Botox, fillers, and plastic surgery, pressured by an industry obsessed with youth. Eventually, she made the decision to step away from those expectations, embracing a more natural and authentic version of herself.

After stepping away from the pressures of Hollywood, Melissa finally feels at ease. “I was always trying too hard to fit the mold that someone else wanted,” she admitted. “I’m finally happy in my own skin. I’m so grateful, relieved, and so much happier.”

But her transformation didn’t stop at rural living. She also found a new way to empower others—particularly women navigating the later chapters of life—by founding Modern Prairie. The idea stemmed from her own evolving views on aging and how society treats older women.

In a 2023 interview, she spoke candidly about the beauty and retail industries’ long history of sending the wrong message to women her age. “There’s no such thing!” she said, rejecting the term “anti-aging.” “It’s derogatory and demeaning. The idea that we’re trying to teach people to be afraid of aging is a mistake. Aging is a gift. I like to say I’m aging gratefully.”

But Modern Prairie is more than just a lifestyle brand—it’s a community. Melissa wanted to create a space where women could connect, support one another, and embrace this stage of life with confidence. “Women need to know they’re not alone,” she explained. “There’s always someone there to help us through—to walk ahead of us, to walk behind us, to hold us up if need be.”

She stays actively involved in the community, engaging with women on the Modern Prairie app, where they share advice, offer encouragement, and connect over everything from grief and life transitions to hobbies, recipes, and new skills.

For Melissa, Modern Prairie is her way of redefining aging—reminding women that this chapter of life is about strength, connection, and continuous growth.

From an unexpected adoption to hidden family struggles, from stardom to finding peace in simplicity, Melissa’s journey is one of resilience. Now, far from the pressures of Hollywood, she continues to inspire—whether through tending her farm, leading her business, or sharing her story—by living life on her own terms.

And while life on the farm offers a quiet retreat, the way she and Timothy found their property is a story of its own—one filled with serendipity and a little bit of fate.

As reported on September 17, 2022, Melissa said her husband found a place on Zillow, a real estate marketplace, that looked cute and was listed for a reasonably good price. They went to look at it, and from the outside, it looked “sad.”

The inside was not any better. It smelled musty and was full of the previous owner’s belongings. There were bars of soap and bottles of shampoo in the shower, boxes of cereal in the pantry, and rotting deer heads on the walls.

But despite how inhabitable it looked, Melissa and Timothy thought it had the potential to be something special, of course, after a lot of work had been done on it. They bought the 14-acre property in upstate New York in 2018, for $98,000, and got to work.

They began renovating the property, adding a boiler, propane tank, and all-new plumbing. The home now features a fireplace with plenty of potted plants on the fireplace mantle. The living room has maroon sofas with a bookshelf set in one corner and a wooden staircase leading to the upper floor.

Outside the door is a front porch that features outdoor chairs, potted plants, and a flight of stairs leading to the ground outside. Melissa, who always desired a farm life, can now freely grow vegetables in her garden. She also has a chicken coup where she rears chickens.

Melissa and Timothy work on a gig-to-gig basis, a far cry from their time in long-running series where they earned big salaries. Contrary to the life many believe celebrities live, the two have a lot to cater to, and with little to no money coming in, they have to budget for everything like everyone else does.

She said, “We live on a budget like [most] people do. We are gig workers. Neither one of us is on a long-running series right now. I was — fifty years ago. I don’t know where people think that money’s gone.”

They grow their food, with Melisaa showcasing her bountiful vegetable harvests on her Instagram. She grows plenty of vegetables and fruits, including strawberries, zucchini, cucumbers, green peppers, and tomatoes. She also farms herbs such as mints and oregano.