Melissa Gilbert Reveals 'Amazing' Coincidence Involving Her Birth Mother
Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert just revealed an "amazing" coincidence she discovered about her birth mother.
On Wednesday, May 27, the former child actress who played Laura Ingalls Wilder in the original historical drama series took to Instagram with a cool tidbit of information that connects her to her birth mom.
Gilbert, 62, was adopted by actors Paul Gilbert and Barbara Cowan one day after she was born to her biological parents, Frances Catherineanne (Cathy) Wood, a dancer, and David Darlington, a stock car racer and musician.
In her post, Gilbert explained that she learned from a biological cousin that her bio mom also started performing at a young age.
"This was part of my birth mom, Cathy's, engagement announcement to her first husband, a man named Leslie R Mullins," she captioned the post. "I'm guessing he is the father of my three older half siblings who I am now one teeny step closer to finding."
Gilbert continued, "Anyway, there's even more synchronicity here…she was a performer who started as a child! She was 3 1/2 at her first professional performance. I was two when I did my first commercial. Was I ever born with the right set of genes and then adopted by the exactly perfect family. This is so amazing."
Related: Melissa Gilbert Breaks Silence in First Interview Since Husband Timothy Busfield's Arrest
In the snippet from her bio mother's engagement announcement, it read, "The bride-to-be has appeared on many programs in Los Angeles as well as elsewhere in Southern California. She made her dramatic debut at the age of three and a half when she was made honorary colonel of Will Rogers Post 539 of the American Legion."
Gilbert has previously opened up about her birth parents, including the story of how she came to be placed for adoption.
"They were each married to other people and had three children each, and ran off together, and conceived me on a motorcycle trip in the desert," she told her Little House on the Prairie costar, Patrick Labyoreaux, during a July 2025 interview on his podcast. "And then they left their spouses for each other, and got married after, pregnant with me, and moved all the kids in so that I was number seven. So the decision was made to put me up for adoption."
Little House on the Prairie aired for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983.
What do you think of both Gilbert and her bio mom making their performance debuts at a very young age?
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 12:46 PM.