“Don’t Call & Visit”: Simone Biles’ Biological Mother Breaks Silence on Her Adopted Parents

Shanon Biles threw a party after her daughter spectacularly returned to form at the Paris Olympics. However, there was one problem. The 27-year-old 7x Olympics gold medalist barely has a connection with her estranged mother and wasn’t part of the celebration. As it turns out, Shanon is seeking forgiveness and is still coming to terms with giving up her children for adoption all those years ago.

Simone Biles and her siblings, Adria, Tevin, and Ashley, had a tough start in life. In her 2021 Facebook Watch series, Simone vs Herself, the gymnast recalled how she and her siblings were “so focused on food because we didn’t have a lot of it,” and how she resented the family cat for being fed while they went hungry—one reason she’s never been fond of cats. Luckily, their grandparents, Ronald, and Nellie Biles, stepped in and adopted Simone and Adria when they were six, while Ronald’s sister, Harriet took in Tevin and Ashley.

Now, years later, Shanon Biles has broken her silence on the painful decision to give up her daughters to their adoptive parents, Nellie and Ronald Biles.

Ronald and Nellie decided that it would be best for Simone Biles and her sister to stay away from their biological mother while she was battling addiction and working to get better. “When we signed the [adoption] papers it was like my dad flipped a switch on me – no communication, don’t call, and don’t visit. That’s how it was in the beginning,” 52-year-old Shanon Biles opened up about the past exclusively to Daily Mail.

“It took me six years before I saw my children again,” Shanon added. Shanon officially signed the papers for her children to be adopted in 2003 when Biles was six years old. This was three years after Biles and her siblings were placed in foster care because of their mother’s issues with addiction.

Ronald Biles wanted Shanon to stay away from her children due to issues she was facing so that they were not impacted. “It was hard to give up my kids, but I had to do what I had to do,” she said. Shanon confessed to relentlessly arguing with her parents when they adopted her daughters, she later understood why Ronald and Nellie Biles made the right decision.

“I was still using, and he didn’t want me coming in and out of their lives when I wasn’t right,” added the 52-year-old. At one point when Biles and her siblings were living in foster care in Ohio, their grandfather came to know about it. He brought all of them to Texas only to have them head back to their mother less than a year later. However, Shanon was unable to care for them, and her parental rights were terminated leading to the adoption of her children.

Simone Biles has rarely mentioned her biological mother in public. In fact, according to a report from the Associated Press in 2015, Biles is quick to correct anyone who mentions Shanon her mother. The relationship between Biles and her biological mother is far from ideal and this is something Shanon is keen to correct.

“I would like to make amends with Simone personally – I’m just waiting for her and Adria. I speak to Adria more than I speak to Simone. I would just ask her to forgive me,” Shanon said. The fractured relationship with her daughter has meant Shanon has missed out on some of the most important moments of her daughter’s life, such as her wedding to NFL star Jonathan Owens. But Shanon is keen to let the past be past and wait for Simone to take a step toward reconciliation. Shanon invited friends and neighbors to her house in Ohio to celebrate her daughter’s success in Paris.

“Can we move forward? Don’t judge me on my past. Let’s move forward. I’m waiting for the opportunity but I’m waiting on her to be able to come to me. Let’s sit down. I just have to be patient,” she added. Shanon is sober today and has said that she isn’t the same person as before.

Over the years, Shanon had racked up debt and had just $34 to her name on a prepaid card according to a Chapter Seven bankruptcy petition filed in October 2018. Slowly she has been able to turn around her life and since 2022 has stayed out of any trouble. She now works as a cashier at the grocery store Save A Lot.

For Simone Biles separation from her mother may not have been easy, but with her adopted parents taking care of her, she was able to realize her dreams.

Simone Biles found the loving home that fueled her rise to gymnastics greatness

Shortly after Ronald and Nellie Biles adopted the girls, the then-six-year-old fell in love with gymnastics during a day-care field trip. Since then, her adoptive parents have stood behind her as pillars of support. “It’s been a long journey but their support means the world to me,” Simone Biles said in April 2024, ahead of her historic Olympic comeback.

The only time Ronald and Nellie missed one of her competitions was during Tokyo 2020, thanks to COVID-19 restrictions. Fast forward to today, and Simone, now 27, is the most decorated gymnast in history, adding three golds and a silver to her collection in Paris—including the coveted all-around gold. She knows none of it would have been possible without Nellie and Ronald’s unwavering dedication.

“Being separated from my biological mom, being placed in foster care before I officially got adopted by my grandparents, it just set me up for a better route at life,” Biles revealed in 2021. She has often mentioned the role her adopted parents played in her success and thanked them for their support.

Now, after years of estrangement, Simone Biles’ biological mother hopes to one day reconnect with her daughters and seek their forgiveness and be a part of their lives What do you think about this complex journey and Shanon Biles’ wish? Share your thoughts in the comments below!