*Shanon Biles, mother of US gymnast Simone Biles, remains hopeful that her daughter will eventually forgive her for placing Simone and her siblings in foster care due to her drug and alcohol addiction.
“It was hard to give up my kids, but I had to do what I had to do. I wasn’t able to care for them. I was still using and [my father] didn’t want me coming in and out of their lives when I wasn’t right,” Shanon, 52, told The Daily Mail.
We previously reported that Simone was six when she and her sister Adria were placed into foster care and ultimately adopted by their grandparents, Ronald and Nellie, in Houston. Her other siblings were raided by Ronald’s sister in Cleveland.
“I would like to make amends with Simone personally – I’m just waiting for her and [her younger sister] Adria,” said Shannon, who is now sober and employed as a grocery store cashier.
“I speak to Adria more than I speak to Simone. I would just ask her to forgive me. Can we move forward? Don’t judge me on my past. Let’s move forward,” she added.
Shanon was absent from Simone’s recent milestones, including her wedding and record-breaking achievements at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has Simone’s contact information but is waiting for her daughter to reach out on her own.
“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,” the gymnast said on an episode of her Facebook Watch series, Simone Vs. Herself, PEOPLE reports.
She continued, “I feel like I wouldn’t be where I am unless that turning point happened. I would still be Simone Biles, probably not Simone Biles that everybody else knows, the world knows. But I also believe everything happens for a reason and I’m forever grateful for that because I definitely got a second shot at life.”
Simone has credited Ronald and Nellie with playing a crucial role in her path to the Olympics.
“If not for my parents and adoption, I wouldn’t be here today,” she told TODAY
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