Truth About Heidi Russo – Colin Kaepernick’s Mom

Heidi Russo is the birth mother of Colin Kaepernick, the former professional American football star and civil rights activist. She is a certified nurse based in Bloomfield, Denver, Colorado, who gained public notoriety when she identified herself as Colin Kaepernick’s mother

Heidi Russo, who co-founded Linked Thru’ Love, an advocacy group created to end the stigma surrounding adoption and birth mothers, has received a lot of flak for her decision to come back into the life of the pro football star with a lot of people citing the fact that she’s only back because he has achieved success. Let’s take a quick journey to explore the truths surrounding Heidi Russo, Colin Kaepernick’s birth mother.

Summary of Heidi Russo’s Biography

  • Full Name: Heidi Russo
  • Gender: Female
  • Date of Birth: April 1969
  • Ethnicity: Caucasian
  • Nationality: American
  • Sexual Orientation: Straight
  • Marital Status: Married
  • Heidi Russo’s Husband: Heath Russo
  • Heidi Russo’s Children: Michael Russo, Ethan Russo, Alex “Jett” Russo, Colin Kaepernick
  • Heidi Russo’s Parents: James Zabransky (father), Phyllis Zabransky (mother)
  • Siblings: 2
  • Heidi Russo’s Height in Inches: 6ft 2in
  • Heidi Russo’s Height in Centimeters: 188cm
  • Education: University of Wisconsin
  • Profession: Registered Nurse
  • Heidi Russo’s Net Worth: Est. $100k
  • Famous for: Being the birth mother of pro football star Colin Kaepernick
  • Heidi Russo’s Instagram: @heidirn1
  • Twitter: @Heidirn1 (Heidi Russo-Allen)
  • Facebook: Heidi Russo-Allen

Who Is Colin Kaepernick’s Birth Mother Heidi Russo?

Heidi Russo was born in April 1969 in Wisconsin. She was born to a Caucasian couple –  James and Phyllis Zabransky – however, her parents divorced when she was still a child and she was forced to live with her mother and two unnamed siblings. Russo’s birth status grants her the rights and the privileges of an American citizen.

Heidi Russo

Heidi Russo spent most of her formative years in her hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The exact details of her formal education are unknown beginning from her preschool up to her high school years. Nevertheless, Colin Kaepernick’s birth mother attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh where she graduated with a degree in Nursing to become a certified nurse.

Heidi Russo Became Pregnant With Colin In Her Teens

Heidi Russo found out she was pregnant with a baby who would turn out to be one of the most recognized public figures in America and indeed the world today when she was just a teenager.

A lot of people might be unaware of the fact that getting pregnant with Colin wasn’t her first. To put it plainly, she had become pregnant with a baby for a former high school lover whose parents didn’t think much of the now certified nurse because of her status as a child from a broken home.

She had to abort the baby and records show that she even had to borrow money from a friend to go through with the abortion as her mother, who was her primary caregiver at the time, was struggling financially.

Fast forward to a few years later and Heidi would find herself in a similar position at 19 years of age with a yet unidentified African-American man of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent. According to Heidi, the man disappeared from her life when he found out she was pregnant and never contacted her again.

Heidi Russo’s Parents Offered To Help With The Pregnancy

Heidi’s pregnancy sort of reunited her parents but only in their unwavering support for her in her time of need. Heidi Russo reveals that the period of pregnancy was quite tough and challenging for her as she was quite young and didn’t know what her next course of action would be. She however credits her parents for their support and encouragement in a big way. Heidi eventually had Colin in 1987, in Milwaukee.

Heidi Russo Insisted On Giving Colin Kaepernick Up For Adoption

Despite the overwhelming show of support from her parents and their promises to assist her in raising the child, Heidi Russo came to a decision to give her baby up for adoption, and nothing or anyone could change her mind. A family was chosen and the then 19-year-old Russo handed over her just over 5 weeks old baby to his new parents – Rick and Teresa Kaepernick – who were looking to adopt a son after losing two sons from heart defects shortly after birth.

Teresa Kaepernick, who already had two living children at the time of Colin’s adoption, described the adoption process as very smooth, considering how tedious and challenging most adoption processes are. She mentioned that Colin’s birth mother, Heidi was present and after handing over the baby, they hugged each other and went their separate ways with the Kaepernicks taking baby Colin to his new home and Heidi returning home to pick up the pieces of her life.

Regardless of the fact that Heidi gave up her baby, she stayed in touch with him and was in constant communication with Teresa Kaepernick, who sent her pictures and memorabilia of Colin’s progress in the Kaepernick family. This continued for about 7 years until the Kaepernicks moved away to California. That was when Heidi lost all contact with Colin and it would remain that way for more than a decade.

Inside Colin Kaepernick And Heidi Russo’s Relationship

Having lost contact and avenues of communication with the Kaepernicks, Russo went on to start a rebuilding process for her life until Colin turned 18 years old. At this point in his life, Colin Kaepernick was already on his way to being a big shot in the NFL. It was reported that Heidi sent him a letter that identified her as his birth mother and despite confirming the veracity of the letter, Colin went ahead to ignore her out of respect for his parents.

Heidi on her own part was strongly vilified for coming back into Colin’s life simply because he had become famous, an allegation which she strongly denied. She kept trying to reach out to her long-lost son without any success.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick began a civil rights action that saw him take a knee while the US national anthem was being sung at a game while he was contracted to the San Francisco 49ers. It was a civil action aimed at fighting against police brutality and racial injustice.

With that, Colin Kaepernick made history as the player who introduced the concept of taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and in a fight against racism in sports and life in general. The San Francisco 49ers star has since become an iconic figure for starting a movement that has gained traction all over the world in sports arenas and sporting events.

His actions divided opinions with some applauding him and some others criticizing him, including his NFL team who proceeded to terminate his contract with them under several pretenses. Heidi, who was still seeking a relationship with her son, Colin, was one of the people who harshly criticized his actions.

She harshly stated that Colin had brought shame and disgrace to his country and his family who had given him everything. Even though she later came out with a modified and slightly less abrasive statement in favor of Colin’s reasons for his civil disobedience, it was quite difficult to tell if she had ruined her chances of ever making things right with a child she gave up at 5 weeks old. It remains to be seen if Colin will ever speak to his birth mother as at the time of writing, there is still no relationship whatsoever between birth mother and son.

Heidi Russo Has Her Own Family

Colin Kaepernick’s birth mother has a family of her own. The 6 feet 2 inches tall nurse is happily married to Heath Russo and together they have three sons named Michael, Ethan, and Alex aka Jett. She is also active on social media with handles on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Heidi Russo Is A Registered Nurse

One of the things that Russo did after giving up Colin was to get a life for herself. As earlier stated, she went back to school and was able to bag a nursing degree. She currently works as a registered cardiac nurse at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Broomfield, Colorado. It is a position she has held for more than a decade since 2011.

In response to Colin’s disregard for her attempts at reconciliation, she started an advocacy group called Linked Thru’ Love which is dedicated to ending the stereotypes associated with adoption and birth mothers. She also co-founded a non-profit called Three Strands which was also created to help and assist birth mothers who have been misunderstood for giving up their children.

Key Facts About Heidi Russo

  1. Who is Heidi Russo? Heidi Russo is the birth mother of former NFL Quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.
  2. What was Russo’s situation when she gave birth to Colin? Russo was an 18-year-old who was pregnant with no money, and the father did not want to be involved. She chose to give Colin up for adoption.
  3. What is Colin Kaepernick known for? Colin Kaepernick is controversially popular for introducing “Taking the Knee during the national anthem” as a form of protest against systemic racism and police brutality against black people.
  4. Has Russo met Colin? No, Russo is yet to meet her oldest son who keeps his distance from her.
  5. What does Russo think of the incident where Kaepernick introduced “Taking the Knee”? Russo had contradicting views about the incident and has criticized Kaepernick for his actions.
  6. Did Russo have any other children? Russo had another son, who she raised and did not give up for adoption.
  7. What was Russo’s childhood like? Russo had to go through her parents’ ugly divorce and had personal struggles during that time. Her mother got custody of her and her siblings, and Russo rarely saw her father.
  8. Did Russo have any other pregnancy experiences? Yes, she had her first abortion when she was a junior in high school.
  9. How long did Russo raise Colin before giving him up for adoption? Russo raised Colin for six weeks before deciding to abandon him for a better life, a decision she regrets to this day.
  10. Who were Colin’s guardians after he was given up for adoption? Rick and Teresa Kaepernick were Colin’s guardians after he was given up for adoption.
  11. Did Russo keep in touch with her child after the adoption? Russo continuously kept in touch with Teresa and Rick after the adoption, but the letters and messages became rare as it was putting her life on hold.
  12. Has Colin contacted Russo? Yes, Colin and Russo have exchanged emails, and Colin has asked Russo about the identity and whereabouts of his biological father.
  13. Has Russo talked about her adoption journey? Yes, Russo has opened up about her adoption journey through interviews and recently through her Youtube channel.
  14. Did Russo regret giving up Colin for adoption? Although Russo believes that giving up Colin for adoption was the right decision for him, she regrets the decision and wishes she could have given him the life she wanted for him.
  15. What is the current relationship between Russo and Kaepernick? They do not have a close relationship, but they have exchanged emails.
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Romeo Ndlovu
Romeo Ndlovu
Romeo's secret talent is taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary content. At work, he is thinking about how best to provide the most unique, original content that provides utmost satisfaction to the user. Away from work, he is a football addict who loves to catch up on his favorite pastimes

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